The CREST-E study of creatine for Huntington disease: A randomized controlled trial

Objective: To investigate whether creatine administration could slow progressive functional decline in adults with early symptoms of Huntington disease. Methods: We conducted a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of up to 40 g daily of creatine monohydrate in participants with stage I and II HD treated for up to 48 months. The primary outcome measure was the rate of change in total functional capacity (TFC) between baseline and end of follow-up. Secondary outcome measures included changes in additional clinical scores, tolerability, and quality of life. Safety was assessed by adverse events and laboratory studies. Results: At 46 sites in North America, Australia, and New Zealand, 553 participants were randomized to creatine (275) or placebo (278). The trial was designed to enroll 650 patients, but was halted for futility after the first interim analysis. The estimated rates of decline in the primary outcome measure (TFC) were 0.82 points per year for participants on creatine, 0.70 points per year for participants on placebo, favoring placebo (nominal 95% confidence limits −0.11 to 0.35). Adverse events, mainly gastrointestinal, were significantly more common in participants on creatine. Serious adverse events, including deaths, were more frequent in the placebo group. Subgroup analysis suggested that men and women may respond differently to creatine treatment. Conclusions: Our data do not support the use of creatine treatment for delaying functional decline in early manifest HD. Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00712426. Classification of evidence: This study provides Class II evidence that for patients with early symptomatic HD, creatine monohydrate is not beneficial for slowing functional decline

Localized delivery of therapeutic doxorubicin dose across the canine blood–brain barrier with hyperthermia and temperature sensitive liposomes

Most drugs cannot penetrate the blood–brain barrier (BBB), greatly limiting the use of anti-cancer agents for brain cancer therapy. Temperature sensitive liposomes (TSL) are nanoparticles that rapidly release the contained drug in response to hyperthermia (>40 °C). Since hyperthermia also transiently opens the BBB, we hypothesized that localized hyperthermia can achieve drug delivery across the BBB when combined with TSL. TSL-encapsulated doxorubicin (TSL-Dox) was infused intravenously over 30 min at a dose of 0.94 mg/kg in anesthetized beagles (age ∼17 months). Following, a hyperthermia probe was placed 5–10 mm deep through one of four 3-mm skull burr holes. Hyperthermia was performed randomized for 15 or 30 min, at either 45 or 50 °C. Blood was drawn every 30 min to measure TSL-Dox pharmacokinetics. Nonsurvival studies were performed in four dogs, where brain tissue at the hyperthermia location was extracted following treatment to quantify doxorubicin uptake via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and to visualize cellular uptake via fluorescence microscopy. Survival studies for 6 weeks were performed in five dogs treated by a single hyperthermia application. Local doxorubicin delivery correlated with hyperthermia duration and ranged from 0.11 to 0.74 μg/g of brain tissue at the hyperthermia locations, with undetectable drug uptake in unheated tissue. Fluorescence microscopy demonstrated doxorubicin delivery across the BBB. Histopathology in Haematoxylin & Eosin (H&E) stained samples demonstrated localized damage near the probe. No animals in the survival group demonstrated significant neurological deficits. This study demonstrates that localized doxorubicin delivery to the brain can be facilitated by TSL-Dox with localized hyperthermia with no significant neurological deficits

P858 An open-label, multi-center trial of INO-5401 and INO-9012 delivered by electroporation (EP) in combination with cemiplimab in subjects with newly-diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM)

BackgroundGBM is one of the most deadly cancers and treatment is surgery, followed by radiation (RT) and temozolomide (TMZ) daily during RT followed by cycles of TMZ for select patients.1 New immunotherapies, such as checkpoint inhibition, may benefit patients with GBM. T cell-enabling therapies, in combination with checkpoint inhibition, may improve overall survival (OS). In this study, a novel antigen-specific T cell-generating therapy, INO-5401 (synthetic DNA plasmids encoding for human telomerase [hTERT], Wilms Tumor-1 [WT-1] and prostate specific membrane antigen [PSMA]), plus INO-9012 (synthetic DNA plasmid encoding for IL-12), with the PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor, cemiplimab, was given to patients with newly-diagnosed GBM to evaluate tolerability, immunogenicity and clinical efficacy of the combination.MethodsPhase I/II, single arm, two cohort study (A: MGMT Promoter Unmethylated, B: MGMT Promoter Methylated). The primary objective is to evaluate the safety of INO-5401 and INO-9012 followed by EP with CELLECTRA® 2000 in combination with cemiplimab. Secondary objectives include the evaluation of preliminary clinical efficacy and immunogenicity. Treatment is with 9 mg INO-5401 with 1 mg INO-9012 every three weeks (Q3W) for four doses, then Q9W; and cemiplimab (350 mg IV Q3W). RT is given as 40 Gy over three weeks; TMZ is given concurrent with radiation (Cohorts A and B), followed by maintenance TMZ (Cohort B).Results52 patients were enrolled onto this study; 32 in Cohort A and 20 in Cohort B. 18 were women (35%) and 47 were white (90%). The median age was 60 years (range 19-78 years). The most common Grade ≥3 adverse events were elevations in alanine or aspartate aminotransferase (ALT/AST; 5 patients), and tumor inflammation/edema (5 patients); there was one Grade 5 unrelated event of urosepsis. The only related SAE reported in more than one patient was pyrexia. 22 patients (42%) reported immune-related AEs, with the most common being elevations in ALT or AST (8 patients), and were reported most commonly within the first nine weeks of treatment. The safety profile was consistent with that of patients with GBM and of checkpoint inhibitors. ELISpot assessments performed to date demonstrated the majority of patients have T cell responses to INO-5401. PFS6 was 75% (95% CI 56.6, 88.5) in Cohort A (preliminary; Cohort B pending).ConclusionsINO-5401 + INO-9012 with cemiplimab has an acceptable safety profile, is immunogenic and is potentially efficacious in patients with newly-diagnosed GBM. This combination is promising; survival results will be updated next year.Trial RegistrationNCT03491683.Ethics ApprovalThis study was approved by New York University institution’s Ethics Board; approval number i17-00764.ReferencesStupp R, et al. (2009). Lancet Oncology 10(5): 459–466

Abstract CT114: INO-5401 and INO-9012 delivered by electroporation (EP) in combination with cemiplimab (REGN2810) in newly-diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM) (NCT03491683)

Abstract Despite advances in therapy, glioblastoma (GBM) remains one of the most deadly cancers, with five-year survival under 5%. Newer immunotherapies hold promise in the treatment of GBM, and T cell-enabling therapies may improve progression-free and overall survival for newly-diagnosed patients. Checkpoint inhibitors, such as PD-1 inhibitors, have increased response rates in many cancers, but not yet in GBM. In this study, a novel antigen-specific T cell-generating therapy, INO-5401, combined with INO-9012, together with a PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor, cemiplimab, will be given to patients with newly-diagnosed GBM in order to evaluate tolerability, immunogenicity and any activity of the combination. INO-5401 is a mixture of three synthetic plasmids that target Wilms tumor gene-1 (WT-1) antigen, prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA), and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) antigen. INO-9012 is a plasmid encoding human interleukin-12 (IL-12) p35 and p40 subunit proteins. In preclinical studies, targeting WT-1, PSMA and hTERT induced robust cellular immune responses and slowed tumor growth in murine tumor implantation and ALL models. This is a Phase I/IIA, open-label, multi-center trial to evaluate the safety, immunogenicity and preliminary clinical efficacy of INO-5401 + INO-9012 delivered by intramuscular (IM) injection followed by electroporation (EP), in combination with cemiplimab, and radiation and chemotherapy, in participants with newly-diagnosed GBM. INO-5401 + INO-9012 will be administered Q3w for the first four doses, and then Q9w until disease progression. Cemiplimab will be administered Q3w until disease progression. The trial population is divided into two cohorts: Cohort A are patients with an unmethylated O6-methylguanine-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter; and Cohort B are patients with a methylated O6-methylguanine-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) methyltransferase (MGMT) promoter. Both cohorts will receive radiation and temozolomide (TMZ), if clinically indicated, in combination with study therapies. Cohort B will continue TMZ for a total of 6 cycles. A safety run-in will be performed with up to six participants (safety analysis participants) from Cohort A and Cohort B. Correlative studies include the assessment of antigen-specific cellular immune responses in peripheral blood and tumor tissue. Fifty-two patients are estimated to be enrolled, 32 in Cohort A and 18 in Cohort B. Enrollment began in May of 2018 and the trial is continuing to accrue as planned. Citation Format: David Reardon, Seema Nagpal, Scott Soltys, Steven Brem, Antonio Omuro, Macarena De La Fuente, Amy-Lee Bredlau, Isreal Lowy, Matthew Fury, Matthew Morrow, Kim Kraynyak, Trevor McMullan, Ashley L. Santo, Brian Sacchetta, Jeffrey Skolnik. INO-5401 and INO-9012 delivered by electroporation (EP) in combination with cemiplimab (REGN2810) in newly-diagnosed glioblastoma (GBM) (NCT03491683) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr CT114