Using cabozantinib with ifosfamide to treat Ewing's sarcoma and osteosarcoma

A Phase I Trial of Cabozantinib (XL184) in Combination With High-dose Ifosfamide in Adults and Children With Relapsed/Refractory Sarcomas (CaIRS Trial)

This study is testing if a new combination of cabozantinib and high-dose ifosfamide can help children and young adults with Ewing's sarcoma and osteosarcoma that hasn't responded to previous treatments.

Quick facts

• Phase: Phase 1
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 30 (estimated)
• Ages: 5 Years to 40 Years
• Sex: All
• Sponsor: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (Academic / other)
• Drugs / interventions: cabozantinib, CAR-T, chimeric antigen receptor, chemotherapy, Immunotherapy, radiation
• Locations: 4 sites (San Francisco, California and 3 other locations)
• Trial ID: NCT06156410 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

This study aims to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of cabozantinib in combination with high-dose ifosfamide for patients with relapsed or refractory Ewing sarcoma and osteosarcoma. The research focuses on how cabozantinib, which inhibits key tyrosine kinases like MET and VEGFR2, can drive tumor responses in these patients. Participants will be assessed for measurable disease and must have previously undergone traditional chemotherapy. The study includes both children and young adults, with specific age cohorts for dosing.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Ideal candidates are children and young adults aged 5 to 40 years with relapsed or refractory Ewing sarcoma or osteosarcoma who have measurable disease.

Not a fit: Patients with non-relapsed or non-refractory Ewing sarcoma or osteosarcoma, or those who have not undergone prior chemotherapy, may not benefit from this study.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this treatment could provide a new therapeutic option for patients with difficult-to-treat Ewing sarcoma and osteosarcoma.

How similar studies have performed: While the combination of cabozantinib and ifosfamide is being explored, similar approaches targeting tyrosine kinases have shown promise in other studies.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Histologic diagnosis of any sarcoma, including bone and soft tissue sarcomas. Biopsy from current relapse/progression is highly preferred, though will accept tissue from prior relapse/progression or initial diagnosis with approval from the study Principal Investigator or designee.
2. Disease that has progressed on or relapsed after upfront initial therapy, which must have included traditional chemotherapy.
3. Evaluable or Measurable disease, according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST v1.1), within 21 days of enrollment.
4. Age, within the following parameters by cohort:

   1. Phase I dose-finding cohort: age 12 to 40 years at the time of enrollment.
   2. Phase I dose-confirmation cohort: age 5 to \< 12 years at the time of enrollment.
5. Body surface area (BSA): \> 0.35 m2.
6. Performance status: Lansky play (\< 16 years of age) or Karnofsky (\> 16 years of age) of ≥ 50, corresponding to Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) categories \< 2.
7. Prior toxicity: recovery to baseline or grade \< 1, as per the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5.0 (v5.0), from all acute toxicities, unless adverse events (AE) are clinically non-significant (i.e. alopecia) or controlled on supportive care (i.e. nausea/vomiting, hypothyroidism).
8. Able to swallow tablets whole.
9. Hematopoietic function:

   1. Absolute neutrophil count \> 1,000/uL (without hematopoietic growth factor within the time frame noted below).
   2. Hemoglobin \> 8 g/dL (without transfusion in the last 7 days).
   3. Platelets \> 100,000/uL (without transfusion in the last 7 days).
10. Renal function:

    1. Normal renal function determined by one of the following means (even if others are outside of normal range): 1) serum creatinine \< 1.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN) for age; 2) cystatin C within normal limits; 3) nuclear medicine glomerular filtration rate (GFR) within normal limits, or 4) calculated creatinine clearance of \> 70 mL/min/1.73 m2 (≥ 1.17mL/sec)
    2. Urine protein/creatinine ratio (UPCR) ≤ 1 mg/mg (≤ 113.2 mg/mmol), or 24-hour urine protein ≤ 1 g.
11. Hepatic function:

    1. Total bilirubin \< 1.5 x ULN (for subjects with Gilbert's disease \< 3.0 x ULN).
    2. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) ≤ 3 x ULN (ALP ≤ 5 x ULN is allowed with documented bone metastases). For the purpose of this study, the ULN for ALT is defined as 45 IU/L.
    3. Serum albumin \> 2.8 g/dL.
    4. Prothrombin time (PT) and partial thromboplastin time (PTT) \< 1.3 x ULN.
12. Sexually active fertile subjects and their partners must agree to use medically accepted methods of contraception (i.e. barrier methods, including male condom, female condom, or diaphragm with spermicidal gel) during the course of the study and for 4 months after the last dose of study treatment.
13. Female subjects of childbearing potential must not be pregnant at screening. Female subjects are considered to be of childbearing potential unless one of the following criteria are met:

    1. Pre-pubertal by tanner staging, defined as Tanner stage 1 or 2.
    2. Documented permanent sterilization (i.e. hysterectomy, bilateral salpingectomy, or bilateral oophorectomy). Documentation of permanent sterilization or postmenopausal status may include review of medical records, medical examinations, or medical history interview by study site.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Radiographic evidence of tumor invading major blood vessels, or endotracheal or endobronchial tumor.
2. Radiographic evidence of tumor invading the gastrointestinal tract, including esophagus, stomach, small or large bowel, rectum, or anus.
3. Known brain metastases or cranial epidural disease unless adequately treated with radiotherapy or surgery (including radiosurgery) and stable for at least 4 weeks prior to enrollment after radiotherapy or major surgery (i.e. removal or biopsy of brain metastasis). Eligible subjects must be neurologically asymptomatic and without corticosteroid treatment at the time of enrollment.
4. Prior progression/relapse with cabozantinib. Prior therapy with cabozantinib without progression/relapse and prior use of other multi-tyrosine kinase inhibitors is allowed.
5. Prior therapy with high-dose ifosfamide (\> 10 g/m2/cycle) at any point.
6. Any small molecule inhibitor therapy within 5 half-lives of the drug or 14 days, whichever is shorter, before enrollment.
7. Myelosuppressive chemotherapy within 14 days before enrollment.
8. Autologous bone marrow transplant (auto-BMT) within 42 days before enrollment.
9. Immunotherapy, including chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR-T), within 21 days before enrollment.
10. Small port radiation therapy within 14 days before enrollment. Substantial bone marrow radiation (i.e. \> 50% of the pelvis) or craniospinal radiation within 4 weeks before enrollment. Subjects with any clinically relevant ongoing complications from prior radiation therapy should not be treated with cabozantinib until these complications have resolved.
11. Major surgery (i.e. abdominal surgery; excluding intracranial surgery as noted above) within 14 days before enrollment. Minor surgeries (including mediport or tunneled catheter placement; excluding needle biopsy for tumor sampling or peripherally inserted central catheter placement) within 10 days before enrollment. Subjects must have documented complete wound healing from major surgery or minor surgery before enrollment.
12. Hematopoietic growth factors within 7 days (for short-acting growth factor) or 14 days (for long-acting growth factor) before enrollment.
13. Previously identified allergy or hypersensitivity to components of the study treatment formulations. See Table 10 in Section 9.1.4 for components of cabozantinib.
14. History of clinically significant hemorrhagic cystitis, defined as grade \> 3 non-infectious cystitis, associated with antineoplastic agents.
15. Any medications that are strong CYP3A4 inducers or inhibitors or medications definitely known to cause QTc prolongation.
16. Concomitant anticoagulation with coumarin agents (i.e. warfarin), direct thrombin inhibitors (i.e. dabigatran), certain direct factor Xa inhibitors (betrixaban), or platelet inhibitors (i.e. clopidogrel). Allowed anticoagulants are the following:

    1. Prophylactic use of low-dose aspirin for cardio-protection (per local applicable guidelines) and low-dose low molecular weight heparins (LMWH).
    2. Therapeutic doses of LMWH and certain direct factor Xa inhibitors (rivaroxaban, edoxaban, apixaban) in subjects without known brain metastases who are on a stable dose of the anticoagulant for at least 1 week before enrollment without clinically significant hemorrhagic complications from the anticoagulation regimen or the tumor.
17. Cardiovascular disease, including:

    1. Class III or IV congestive heart failure (New York Heart Association grading).
    2. Congenital prolonged QT syndrome, clinically significant cardiac arrhythmia, or prolonged corrected QT (QTc) within 14 days before enrollment.
    3. Uncontrolled hypertension, defined as sustained blood pressure \> 95th percentile for age, height, and gender for pediatric subjects and \> 140/90 mmHg for adult subjects, despite optimal antihypertensive treatment.
    4. Stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA), myocardial infarction (MI), unstable angina pectoris, or other ischemic or thromboembolic event (excluding those associated with a central line) within 6 months before enrollment.
18. Gastrointestinal disease, including:

    1. Active peptic ulcer disease, inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis), diverticulitis, cholecystitis, symptomatic cholangitis, appendicitis, or acute pancreatitis.
    2. Acute obstruction of the pancreatic duct or common bile duct, or gastric outlet obstruction.
    3. Intra-abdominal abscess within 6 months before enrollment. Complete healing of an intra-abdominal abscess must be confirmed before enrollment.
    4. Any other condition associated with a high risk of perforation, fistula formation, or potential for decreased absorption of cabozantinib, such as tumors invading the GI tract and ongoing visceral complications from prior radiation therapy.
19. Bleeding conditions, including:

    1. Clinically significant hematuria, hematemesis, or hemoptysis of \> 0.5 teaspoon (2.5 ml) of red blood, or other history of significant bleeding (i.e. pulmonary hemorrhage) within 12 weeks before enrollment.
    2. Radiographic evidence of acute intracranial hemorrhage. In the absence of clinical symptoms, a baseline CT/MRI brain need not be obtained.
20. Any other active malignancy at time of enrollment or diagnosis of another malignancy within 3 years prior to enrollment that requires active treatment, except for locally curable cancers that have been apparently cured, such as basal or squamous cell skin cancer, superficial bladder cancer, or carcinoma in situ of the prostate, cervix, or breast.
21. Other clinically significant disorders that would preclude safe study participation, including:

    1. Cavitating pulmonary lesion.
    2. Serious non-healing wound/ulcer/bone fracture.
    3. Uncompensated/symptomatic hypothyroidism.
    4. Moderate to severe hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh B or C).
    5. Recipient of solid organ transplant, known human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) seropositivity, and other non-treatment related immunodeficiencies.
    6. Severe or uncontrolled infection or systemic disease.
    7. Inadequate electrolyte balance, defined as abnormal levels of serum potassium, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorous and causing clinically significant symptoms, acid-base disturbances, or changes in ECG.
22. Women who are currently pregnant or breastfeeding.

Where this trial is running

San Francisco, California and 3 other locations

• University of California San Francisco — San Francisco, California, United States (Recruiting)
• Children's Hospital Colorado — Aurora, Colorado, United States (Recruiting)
• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (Recruiting)
• University of Pennsylvania — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (Recruiting)

Study contacts

• Principal investigator: Theodore Laetsch, MD — Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
• Study coordinator: Meghan Donnelly, MPH

Conditions Ewing Sarcoma; Osteosarcoma; Sarcomas; relapsed; refractory