Evaluation of the Safety and Benefit of Phase I Oncology Trials for Patients With Primary CNS Tumors

Purpose Patients with high-grade gliomas (HGG) are frequently excluded from first-in-human solid tumor trials because of perceived poor prognosis, excessive toxicities, concomitant drug interactions, and poor efficacy. We conducted an analysis of outcomes from select, single-agent phase I studies in patients with HGG. We compared outcomes to pooled analysis of published studies in solid tumors with various molecular and cytotoxic drugs evaluated as single agents or as combinations. Patient and Methods Individual records of patients with recurrent HGG enrolled onto Adult Brain Tumor Consortium trials of single-agent, cytotoxic or molecular agents from 2000 to 2008 were analyzed for baseline characteristics, toxicities, responses, and survival. Results Our analysis included 327 patients with advanced, refractory HGG who were enrolled onto eight trials involving targeted molecular (n = 5) and cytotoxic (n = 3) therapies. At enrollment, patients had a median Karnofsky performance score of 90 and median age of 52 years; 62% were men, 63% had glioblastoma, and the median number of prior systemic chemotherapies was one. Baseline laboratory values were in an acceptable range to meet eligibility criteria. Patients were on the study for a median of two cycles (range, < one to 56 cycles), and 96% were evaluable for primary end points. During cycle 1, grade ≥ 3 nonhematologic and grade ≥ 4 hematologic toxicities were 5% (28 of 565 adverse events) and 0.9% (five of 565 adverse events), respectively, and 66% of these occurred at the highest dose level. There was one death attributed to drug. Overall response rate (complete and partial response) was 5.5%. Median progression-free and overall survival times were 1.8 and 6 months, respectively. Conclusion Patients with HGG who meet standard eligibility criteria may be good candidates for solid tumor phase I studies with single-agent molecular or cytotoxic drugs with favorable preclinical rationale and pharmacokinetic properties in this population.