Carbon nanoparticle‑loaded iron for advanced solid tumors

A Phase Ib/IIa Clinical Study to Evaluate the Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetic Profile, and Preliminary Efficacy of Intratumoral Injection of Carbon Nanoparticle-Loaded Iron Suspension Injection [CNSI-Fe(II)] With Multiple Administrations in Subjects With Advanced Solid Tumors

This test uses direct injections of a carbon nanoparticle‑loaded iron medicine (CNSI‑Fe) to see if it can shrink tumors in adults with advanced solid cancers who have no effective standard treatment options.

Quick facts

• Phase: Phase1; Phase2
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 54 (estimated)
• Ages: 18 Years to 80 Years
• Sex: All
• Sponsor: Sichuan Enray Pharmaceutical Sciences Company (Academic / other)
• Drugs / interventions: chemotherapy, immunotherapy
• Locations: 9 sites (Beijing, Beijing Municipality and 8 other locations)
• Trial ID: NCT07433283 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

This is a phase 1/2 interventional program of CNSI‑Fe delivered by intratumoral injection into 1–3 accessible lesions, given once every two weeks for four planned doses with the option to continue if benefit outweighs risk. CNSI‑Fe combines nanocarbon (which raises local hydrogen peroxide and aids lesion localization) with Fe2+ to promote ferroptosis through Fenton chemistry and enhance intracellular iron delivery. Safety assessments are performed before each dose and after the last dose, while tumor response is imaged before dose 3, several weeks after dose 4, and then approximately every six weeks. The protocol enrolls patients with advanced, histologically confirmed solid tumors whose disease has progressed after or lacks standard therapies and requires lesions suitable for intratumoral injection.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Adults aged 18–80 with advanced, histologically or cytologically confirmed solid tumors that have progressed after standard therapies or lack effective standard options and who have 1–3 lesions accessible for intratumoral injection are appropriate candidates.

Not a fit: Patients with widespread disease without lesions accessible for safe intratumoral injection, very poor performance status, or who have effective standard treatments available are unlikely to benefit from this approach.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, CNSI‑Fe could directly induce tumor cell death in injected lesions and offer a treatment option for patients with refractory, accessible tumors.

How similar studies have performed: Ferroptosis‑focused and nanoparticle‑based therapies have shown promising anti‑tumor activity in preclinical models, but clinical evidence for intratumoral iron‑loaded nanocarbon approaches in humans is currently limited.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

Patients must meet all of the following criteria to be eligible:

1. Understand and voluntarily sign the written informed consent form (ICF), be willing and able to comply with all trial requirements;
2. Male or female aged 18\~80 years old (including cut-off value) at the time of signing the ICF;
3. Stage Ib: patients with advanced solid tumors confirmed by histology or cytology, and the current standard therapy is ineffective (disease progression after treatment or treatment is not tolerated) or there is no effective standard treatment, such as soft tissue sarcoma, refractory thyroid cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, gastric cancer, cervical cancer, lung cancer, head and neck cancer, liver cancer, bile duct cancer, kidney cancer, prostate cancer, vulvar cancer, etc.; Note: Subjects with advanced solid tumors whose disease progresses due to no standard therapy for any reason, or advanced solid tumors whose disease has progressed after receiving the first course of standard therapy for tumor types that are not sensitive to existing standard therapies (e.g., pancreatic cancer, undifferentiated thyroid cancer, sarcoma, etc.) can be included.
4. At least one measurable lesion according to RESICT v1.1 and the lesion has not previously undergone radiotherapy (unless the lesion has clearly progressed after radiotherapy) and has not undergone a tissue biopsy within 7 days prior to screening;
5. Have injectable lesions (such as direct injection or assisted injection by medical imaging instruments), which are judged by the investigator to be suitable for repeated intratumoral injection;
6. The ECOG score within 7 days before the first dose is 0\~1 points;
7. Expected survival ≥ 3 months;
8. Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) caused by prior therapy have recovered to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) v5.0 criteria grade 1 and below before screening (alopecia, grade 2 or below peripheral neurotoxicity, etc., except for toxicities judged by the investigator to be of low safety risk);
9. Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥50%;
10. Within 7 days prior to the first dose, adequate hematologic and end-organ function with laboratory tests meeting the following criteria:

    haematology No treatment with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) within 14 days prior to hematology laboratory tests, and absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥ 1.5×109/L; Have not been treated with platelet transfusion or interleukin-11 (IL-11) or recombinant human thrombopoietin injection before hematological laboratory examination, and the platelet count (PLT) ≥ 90×109/L; No blood transfusion or erythropoietin within 14 days prior to hematology laboratory tests, and hemoglobin (Hb) ≥ 90 g/L; Kidney function Serum creatinine (Cr) ≤ 1.5× upper limit of normal (ULN) or 50 mL/min (Cr only) calculated using the Cockcroft-Gault formula (Cr) 50 mL/min (Cr ≥\> only). 1.5 Calculate Ccr when ×ULN); Liver function TBIL ≤ 1.5× ULN (3.0 ≤× ULN for subjects with Gilbert's syndrome or liver metastases);

    AST, ALT, and ALP≤3×ULN, and subjects with confirmed liver metastases or bone metastases must meet the following conditions:

    Subjects with confirmed liver metastases: AST and ALT≤5×ULN; Subjects with confirmed bone metastases: ALP≤5×ULN; serum albumin≥ 2.8 g/dL; Coagulation function International normalized ratio (INR) or prothrombin time (PT) and aPTT ≤1.5×ULN; Note: Subjects receiving anticoagulant medication are allowed to prolong their INR, PT and aPTT if the injected lesion is in the skin and/or subcutaneous, because excessive bleeding can be controlled by applying direct pressure, at the discretion of the investigator; Subjects receiving anticoagulant therapy are advised to discontinue anticoagulant medication for at least 1 week before deep lesion injection, at the discretion of the investigator.
11. Female subjects of childbearing potential (WOCBP) who must have a negative serum pregnancy test result within 7 days prior to the first dose of study drug and a commitment to adequate and effective contraception or abstinence during treatment with study drug and for 6 months after the end of study drug treatment. In addition, female subjects must be non-lactating.

    Note: WOCBP is defined as non-postmenopausal women who have experienced menarche but have not yet undergone sterilization surgery (hysterectomy or bilateral salpingectomy). Postmenopausal is defined as meeting any of the following conditions: (1) prior bilateral oophorectomy; (2) Age≥ 60 years old; (3) Age \< 60 years and have been out of menstruation for 12 months or more without chemotherapy and taking tamoxifen, toremifene and ovarian function suppression therapy; (4) If taking tamoxifen or toremiaphene and \< age 60 years, FSH and plasma estradiol levels must be in the postmenopausal range.

    Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may artificially suppress FSH levels in women and may require a washout period to return to physiological FSH levels. The duration of the washout period is one of the effects of the HRT type. The following washout period duration is recommended as a guideline, and the investigator should judge the results of the serum FSH level on his own.

    vaginal hormonal preparations (drug rings, creams, gels) for at least 1 week; transdermal preparation for at least 4 weeks; Oral preparation for at least 8 weeks; Other parenteral preparations may require a washout period of up to 6 months. If the serum FSH level \> 40 mIU/mL during the washout period, a postmenopausal woman may be considered.
12. Male subjects commit to adequate and effective contraception or abstinence during study drug treatment and for 6 months after the end of study drug treatment. In addition, male subjects must agree not to donate sperm during this period.

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients meeting any of the following criteria cannot participate in this clinical study:

1. Previous or current diseases with abnormal iron metabolism (except for subjects with iron deficiency anemia), such as thalassemia, fava bean disease (erythrocyte glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency), etc.;
2. Signs of perforation of hollow viscera at the previous or current injection site;
3. Previous or current injection site with local skin breakdown, redness, swelling, necrosis, bleeding, etc., which affects the injection of study drugs;
4. Systemic chemotherapy, targeted therapy, anti-tumor biologic therapy, or immunotherapy within 3 weeks prior to the first dose of study drug; Prior radiotherapy within 14 days prior to the first dose of study drug (with the exception of central nervous system \[CNS\] radiotherapy, which requires a washout period of ≥ 28 days); Received traditional Chinese medicine with anti-tumor indications within 2 weeks before the first dose of the study drug;
5. Major surgery within 4 weeks prior to the first dose of study drug or unhealed wounds, ulcers, or fractures (except for minor surgeries performed within 1 week and full recovery);
6. Untreated or with active brain metastases, spinal cord compression, carcinomatous meningitis, or other evidence that the subject's brain or spinal cord metastases have not been controlled (except for those who have been treated and have stable symptoms, have been stable for at least 4 weeks before the first dose on imaging tests, and have no evidence of cerebral edema, and do not require glucocorticoid therapy);
7. Uncontrolled or poorly controlled hypertension (e.g., systolic blood pressure \> 160 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure \> 100 mmHg);
8. Uncontrolled tumor-related pain;
9. Uncontrolled pleural effusion, pericardial effusion, or ascites requiring repeated drainage (once/month or more often);
10. Active malignancy within 5 years prior to the first dose of study treatment, with the exception of non-melanoma skin cancer, localized prostate cancer, ductal carcinoma in situ or stage I uterine cancer, cervical carcinoma in situ, or carcinoma in situ of the breast that has received curative therapy;
11. Vaccination with a live virus vaccine within 4 weeks prior to the first dose of study treatment; Note: Seasonal influenza vaccines for injection are usually inactivated influenza vaccines and are permitted; However, intranasal influenza vaccine is a live attenuated vaccine and is not allowed.
12. Those with a history of immunodeficiency, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive or other acquired, congenital immunodeficiency diseases, or a history of organ transplantation;
13. Active hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (HBV DNA quantification \>500 IU/mL), hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (HCV antibody positive and polymerase chain reaction \[PCR\] of HCV ribonucleic acid \[RNA\] exceeds ULN), positive anti-human immunodeficiency virus antibody (Anti-HIV). Those who meet any of the above items;
14. Severe chronic or active infection (including tuberculosis infection, etc.) requiring systemic antibacterial, antifungal or antiviral therapy prior to the start of study treatment; Note: Subjects with viral hepatitis are allowed to receive antiviral therapy.
15. History of severe cardiac insufficiency, stroke, or transient ischemic attack (TIA) within 6 months prior to enrollment. History of ventricular tachycardia or torsade de pointes. Any clinically important abnormalities in rhythm, conduction, or morphology of the resting ECG. Has clinically significant cardiac disease, including acute myocardial infarction, Class III or IV congestive heart failure (New York Heart Association classification, see Appendix 5 for details), unstable angina, or cardiac arrhythmia requiring treatment that occurred within 6 months prior to the first dose of study treatment. Note: Subjects with arrhythmias who are receiving anti-arrhythmic drugs and have a controlled heart rate rhythm on screening ECG can be enrolled.
16. Have an active psychiatric disorder (schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, etc.);
17. Subjects who are known to be allergic or intolerant to the active ingredient or excipient of the study drug;
18. Have participated in other interventional clinical studies within 3 weeks prior to the start of study treatment administration (calculated from the first day after the last dose of the previous study, except for those who have not used interventional drugs or investigational medical devices);
19. Other conditions judged by the investigator to be unsuitable for participation in this trial

Where this trial is running

Beijing, Beijing Municipality and 8 other locations

• Peking Union Medical College Hospital — Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China (Not_yet_recruiting)
• Hunan Provincial Tumor Hospital — Hunan, Changsha, China (Not_yet_recruiting)
• The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University — Chongqing, Chongqing Municipality, China (Recruiting)
• Fujian provincial cancer hospital — Fuzhou, Fujian, China (Not_yet_recruiting)
• Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University — Haikou, Hainan, China (Recruiting)
• Harbin medical university cancer hospital — Heilongjiang, Harbin, China (Not_yet_recruiting)
• Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center — Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China (Not_yet_recruiting)
• West China Hospital, Sichuan University — Chengdu, Sichuan, China (Recruiting)
• The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University — Henan, Zhengzhou, China (Recruiting)

Study contacts

• Study coordinator: Xiaohai Tang, PhD & MD

Conditions Tumor, Solid; Lung Cancer; Pancreas Cancer; Thyroid Cancer; Colorectal Cancer; Cervical Cancer; Vulva Cancer; Intratumoral Injection