A Phase 1 interventional study of busulfan and melphalan in Solid Tumor, Adult Central Nervous System Germ Cell Tumor and Adult Rhabdomyosarcoma, sponsored by City of Hope Medical Center. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 6 Months to 40 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-03-20.
Sponsored by City of Hope Medical Center · Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment
RATIONALE: Giving high-dose chemotherapy before an autologous stem cell transplant stops the growth of tumor cells by stopping them from dividing or killing them. Giving colony-stimulating factors, such as G-CSF, helps stem cells move from the bone marrow to the blood so they can be collected and stored. Chemotherapy is then given to prepare the bone marrow for the stem cell transplant. The stem cells are then returned to the patient to replace the blood-forming cells that were destroyed by the chemotherapy.
PURPOSE: This clinical trial is studying how well giving busulfan, melphalan, and topotecan hydrochloride together with a stem cell transplant works in treating patients with newly diagnosed or relapsed solid tumor.
OBJECTIVES:
I. To assess the feasibility of a novel combination conditioning therapy with busulfan/melphalan and topotecan followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in patients with relapsed, refractory and/or poor risk pediatric solid tumors.
II. To determine within the confines of this pilot study, myeloid and platelet engraftment, overall survival and disease-free survival in patients with relapsed, refractory pediatric solid tumors and in patients who have solid tumors with poor risk factors at the time of diagnosis.
III. To determine the pharmacokinetics of topotecan.
OUTLINE:
AUTOLOGOUS HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELL OR AUTOLOGOUS BONE MARROW COLLECTION: Patients undergo stem cell mobilization per institutional guidelines with G-CSF IV or subcutaneously, continuing until the completion of leukapheresis. Patients undergo apheresis after mobilization and continue until a minimum of 2.0 x 10\^6 CD34 cells/kg or more are collected. Cells are processed and cryopreserved following institutional guidelines. Patients who collect > 2.0 x 10\^6 CD34+ cells/kg may proceed to high-dose chemotherapy.
HIGH-DOSE CHEMOTHERAPY: Patients receive topotecan hydrochloride IV continuously over 24 hours on days -8 to -4, busulfan IV every 6 hours on days -8 to -4, and melphalan IV over 30 minutes on days -3 and -2.
AUTOLOGOUS HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELL OR AUTOLOGOUS BONE MARROW REINFUSION: Patients undergo autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation or autologous bone marrow transplantation on day 0. Patients also receive G-CSF IV daily beginning on day +5 and continuing until blood counts recover.
After completion of study treatment, patients are followed every 3 months for 1 year and then annually thereafter.
238 studies on the registry are indexed under Rhabdomyosarcoma; 49 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 25 is below the median of 42 across 202 interventional studies indexed under Rhabdomyosarcoma.
Browse Rhabdomyosarcoma studies →City of Hope Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 677 studies on the registry; 181 are open to participants now.
Of its 31 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 12 (39%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).
Your pathology report is the document that shows this.
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.
GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².
Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.
The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.
A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.
Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.
Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.
Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
From a breathing test (spirometry): how much air you can blow out in the first second. Often given as a percentage of what is expected for your age, height and sex.
A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.
Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.
A 0–100 scale of how well someone can carry out everyday activities. 100 is no complaints and no signs of illness; 70 is able to look after yourself but not to work or keep up normal activity; 50 is needing considerable help and frequent medical care.
Studies often ask for 60 or 70 and above. Your doctor gives the score.
Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.
Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
Relapsed and refractory
Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Histologically or cytologically confirmed
The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).
Your pathology report is the document that shows this.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraindication
A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Creatinine clearance (CrCl)
How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)
GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².
Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction)
The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Bilirubin
A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.
Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ALT and AST (liver enzymes)
Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.
Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
ULN (upper limit of normal)
The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.
“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Platelets
Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
FEV1
From a breathing test (spirometry): how much air you can blow out in the first second. Often given as a percentage of what is expected for your age, height and sex.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Biopsy and archival tissue
A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.
Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Karnofsky performance status (KPS)
A 0–100 scale of how well someone can carry out everyday activities. 100 is no complaints and no signs of illness; 70 is able to look after yourself but not to work or keep up normal activity; 50 is needing considerable help and frequent medical care.
Studies often ask for 60 or 70 and above. Your doctor gives the score.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Contraception
Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.
Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
HIV
The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.
Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
See Detailed Description
Drug: busulfan · Drug: melphalan · Drug: topotecan hydrochloride · Other: laboratory biomarker analysis · Biological: filgrastim · Procedure: autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation · Other: pharmacological study · Procedure: autologous bone marrow transplantation
Given IV
Also known as: BSF, BU, Misulfan, Mitosan, Myeloleukon, Myelosan
Given IV
Also known as: Alkeran, CB-3025, L-PAM, L-phenylalanine mustard, L-Sarcolysin, Melfalan
Given IV
Also known as: hycamptamine, Hycamtin, SKF S-104864-A, TOPO
Correlative studies
Given IV or subcutaneously
Also known as: G-CSF, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, Neupogen, r-metHuG-CSF, Recombinant Methionyl Human Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor
Undergo transplantation
Correlative studies
Also known as: pharmacological studies
Undergo transplantation
Also known as: ABMT, bone marrow transplantation, autologous, transplantation, autologous bone marrow
Treatment feasibility in terms of investigational agent-related adverse events of a novel treatment combination followed by peripheral blood stem cell rescue
Time frame: Day 100 post stem cell rescue
Overall survival
Time frame: 1 year post stem cell rescue
Disease-free survival
Time frame: 1 year post stem cell rescue
Incidence of myeloid and platelet engraftment
Time frame: Day 100 post stem cell rescue
Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of topotecan hydrochloride and busulfan
Time frame: Baseline through day 4 of investigational agent treatment
Ran from Feb 2007 to primary completion in Jan 2013, 70 months.
Of 38 phase 1 interventional studies under Rhabdomyosarcoma, half reached primary completion within 89 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 65 and three quarters within 134. This study's 70 months is below that.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
This study is completed, as verified in Mar 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Studies of the drugs tested here: Busulfan · Melphalan · Topotecan