A Study to Investigate the Efficacy and Safety of Alpha1H as a Neoadjuvant Therapy in Participants With Low- to Intermediate-Risk/Low-Grade Papillary Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer

August 31, 2026 updated by: Hamlet Pharma AB

A Randomized Phase III Study to Investigate the Efficacy and Safety of Alpha1H as a Neoadjuvant Therapy in Participants With Low- to Intermediate-Risk/Low-Grade Papillary Non-Muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if the drug Alpha1H works to treat low-to-intermediate risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer in adults. It will also learn about the safety of drug Alpha1H.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Does giving drug Alpha1H before surgery lower the risk of cancer returning or worsening compared to standard care alone?
  • Is drug Alpha1H safe and well-tolerated by participants? Researchers will compare participants receiving drug Alpha1H before standard surgery to participants receiving standard care alone to see if drug Alpha1H lowers the risk of cancer returning or progressing.

Participants will:

  • Be randomly assigned to receive either drug Alpha1H before surgery or standard care alone.
  • Receive drug Alpha1H directly into the bladder 6 times over about 1 month if assigned to the Alpha1H group.
  • Hold the liquid in the bladder for up to 2 hours during each visit.
  • Undergo standard surgery through the urethra (TURBT) to remove remaining tumor tissue.
  • Visit the clinic regularly for follow-up checkups (including bladder examinations and urine tests) to check if the cancer returns.
  • Fill out questionnaires about their quality of life.

Study Overview

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

194

Phase

  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

      • Prague, Czechia, 15000
        • Fakultni Nemocnice Motol a Homolka

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Signed and dated informed consent.
  • Low- or intermediate-risk non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) meeting one of the following definitions:
  • Low-risk NMIBC: Primary, solitary, Ta, low-grade, 0.5 cm to 3 cm.
  • Intermediate-risk NMIBC (low-to-intermediate risk subgroup per IBCG classification):
  • Primary multifocal (<10 lesions), Ta, low-grade, 0.5 cm to 3 cm;
  • Recurrent solitary, Ta, low-grade, 0.5 cm to 3 cm; or
  • Recurrent multifocal (<10 lesions), Ta, low-grade, >1 year after previous recurrence.
  • Men and women aged 18 years or older.
  • Negative pregnancy test at screening for women of childbearing potential.
  • Women of childbearing potential must agree to use highly effective contraception methods throughout study participation; men of childbearing potential must refrain from donating sperm during the study.
  • Ability to retain bladder contents for 2 hours.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patient with non-papillary tumor appearance at the time of initial cystoscopy.
  • Previous history of T1 or high-grade disease in recurrent tumors.
  • Patients with T1 or high-grade non-muscle invasive papillary bladder cancer (NMIBC).
  • Previous intravesical BCG immunotherapy.
  • Patients with any other cancer diagnosis within the last 5 years (except for skin basalioma).
  • Acute urinary tract infection requiring antibiotic treatment.
  • Prior radiotherapy or systemic chemotherapy.
  • WHO performance status of 3 or 4.
  • Any other investigational agent or non-marketed product within one month prior to Visit 1 and during the trial.
  • Known active HIV infection, defined as detectable HIV viral load at screening.
  • Active hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, defined as hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positivity with detectable HBV DNA at screening.
  • Active hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, defined as anti-HCV antibody positivity with detectable HCV RNA at screening in a patient not on stable antiviral treatment.
  • Any concurrent illness that may render a participant ineligible or limit compliance with study requirements.
  • Previously enrolled in this trial.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Alpha1H
Participants receive 6 intravesical instillations of Alpha1H over approximately 1 month prior to transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT).
Administered via intravesical instillation directly into the urinary bladder. Participants in the experimental group receive a total of 6 instillations on Days 1, 3, 5, 8, 15, and 22 over approximately 1 month prior to TURBT. During each treatment, participants are asked to retain the solution in the bladder for up to 2 hours.
Standard endoscopic surgical procedure performed through the urethra to resect and remove papillary bladder tumor tissue. Performed approximately 30 days after study entry (on Visit 8). Resected tumor tissue is collected for histopathology and central analysis.
A single early intravesical instillation of standard-of-care chemotherapy (epirubicin, mitomycin, or gemcitabine) administered into the urinary bladder shortly following TURBT surgery in accordance with local institutional guidelines.
Active Comparator: Standard of Care
Participants receive standard of care consisting of transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT) followed by a single early intravesical instillation of standard chemotherapy.
Standard endoscopic surgical procedure performed through the urethra to resect and remove papillary bladder tumor tissue. Performed approximately 30 days after study entry (on Visit 8). Resected tumor tissue is collected for histopathology and central analysis.
A single early intravesical instillation of standard-of-care chemotherapy (epirubicin, mitomycin, or gemcitabine) administered into the urinary bladder shortly following TURBT surgery in accordance with local institutional guidelines.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Event-Free Survival (EFS)
Time Frame: From randomization until the occurrence of an EFS event or study completion, assessed at 3, 6, 9 (optional), and 12 months post-randomization, and every 6 months thereafter for up to 3 years.
From randomization until the occurrence of an EFS event or study completion, assessed at 3, 6, 9 (optional), and 12 months post-randomization, and every 6 months thereafter for up to 3 years.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Complete Response (CR) Rate
Time Frame: Day 30 (±5 days), prior to TURBT
Day 30 (±5 days), prior to TURBT
Overall Survival (OS)
Time Frame: From randomization through study completion (assessed at 3, 6, 9 [optional], and 12 months, and every 6 months thereafter for up to 3 years).
From randomization through study completion (assessed at 3, 6, 9 [optional], and 12 months, and every 6 months thereafter for up to 3 years).
Tumor Response (Morphological and Cellular)
Time Frame: Baseline (Day 1) to Day 30 (±5 days)
Assessed as: (1) change in papillary tumor size (% reduction from baseline); (2) tumor cell shedding in urine (cells/mL); (3) apoptosis in shed cells (% TUNEL-positive cells); (4) Alpha1H uptake in shed cells (% Alpha1H-positive cells). Each parameter reported separately.
Baseline (Day 1) to Day 30 (±5 days)
Tumor Gene Expression
Time Frame: Baseline (Day 1) to Day 30 (±5 days)
Assessed by RNA sequencing (whole transcriptome) in tumor tissue and urine RNA. Reported as number of differentially expressed cancer-related genes and pathways between the Alpha1H and SOC arms.
Baseline (Day 1) to Day 30 (±5 days)
Urinary Biomarkers and Immune Response
Time Frame: Day 1, 3, 5, 8, 15, and 22 (pre- and post-instillation), and Day 30 (±5 days)
Assessed by proteomic profiling of urine samples. Reported as change in concentration (pg/mL) of cytokines, chemokines, and interferons between pre- and post-instillation samples, compared between the Alpha1H and SOC arms.
Day 1, 3, 5, 8, 15, and 22 (pre- and post-instillation), and Day 30 (±5 days)
Incidence and Severity of Adverse Events (AEs)
Time Frame: From Visit 1 (Screening) through Visit 9 (Day 40/50) and follow-up period (up to 3 years)
From Visit 1 (Screening) through Visit 9 (Day 40/50) and follow-up period (up to 3 years)
Change in Quality of Life (QoL) as Assessed by the QLQ-NMIBC24 Questionnaire
Time Frame: From Visit 1 (Screening) through follow-up visits (up to 3 years)
Quality of life will be assessed using the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire - Non-Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer Module (EORTC QLQ-NMIBC24), a 24-item, disease-specific patient-reported outcome instrument. Each domain score is linearly transformed to range from 0 to 100. On functional scales (e.g., sexual function), higher scores indicate better functioning; on symptom-related scales (e.g., urinary symptoms, future perspective), higher scores indicate greater symptom burden. Scores are calculated per the EORTC scoring manual.
From Visit 1 (Screening) through follow-up visits (up to 3 years)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

September 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

July 1, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

July 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 26, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 31, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

September 4, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 31, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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