ClinicalTrials.gg
TerminatedNCT02012231Updated Oct 19, 2020

Phase I/IIa Study to Evaluate the Safety, PK, PD, and Preliminary Efficacy of PLX8394 in Patients With Advanced Cancers.

A Phase 1 interventional study of PLX8394 in Melanoma, Thyroid Cancer and Colorectal Cancer, sponsored by Fore Biotherapeutics. Terminated at 3 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-10-19.

Sponsored by Fore Biotherapeutics · Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
5
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The study objective is to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics (PK), and pharmacodynamics (PD) of orally administered PLX8394 in patients with advanced solid tumors. An additional objective is to identify a Recommended Phase 2 (RP2D) for further evaluation in the Extension Cohorts (Phase IIa portion).

The study objective of the Extension Cohorts (PART 2 portion) is to assess the objective tumor response and the PK, PD, and safety of PLX8394 when the RP2D is used in patients with advanced BRAF-mutated cancers.

Read the detailed description

This is an open-label, multi-center Phase I/IIa two-part study with a sequential dose escalation part, followed by three parallel Extension cohorts (BRAF-mutated melanoma, BRAF-mutated non-melanoma solid tumors, and BRAF-mutated classical hairy cell leukemia). Up to approximately 42 patients may be enrolled in the dose escalation phase of the study, depending on the number of cohorts required, number of patients per cohort needed, and the need for replacement patients. Approximately 130 patients are planned to be enrolled in the BRAF-mutated tumor Extension cohorts, with the goal of enrolling approximately 50 patients with BRAF/MEK/ERK inhibitor-naïve melanoma, approximately 10-15 patients with BRAF/MEK/ERK inhibitor-pretreated melanoma, approximately 50 patients with non-melanoma solid tumors, and approximately 10-15 patients with hairy cell leukemia. The trial was intended to be a Phase 1/2 trial, but the trial never moved forward to Phase 2.

02

Conditions studied

  • Melanoma
  • Thyroid Cancer
  • Colorectal Cancer
  • Non-small Cell Lung Cancer
  • Cholangiocarcinoma
  • Histiocytosis
  • Hairy Cell Leukemia

Keywords

  • melanoma
  • anaplastic thyroid cancer
  • advanced papillary thyroid cancer
  • colorectal cancer
  • non-small cell lung cancer
  • cholangiocarcinoma
  • histiocytosis
  • hairy cell leukemia
03

In context

Melanoma

3,370 studies on the registry are indexed under Melanoma; 578 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 5 is below the median of 40 across 2,649 interventional studies indexed under Melanoma.

Browse Melanoma studies →

Lead sponsor

Fore Biotherapeutics is the lead sponsor of 7 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

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.

Inclusion criteria

  • Age ≥ 18 years
  • by 1.1 criteria (solid tumors)
  • performance status of 0-2
  • ≥ 3 months
  • Adequate hematologic, hepatic, and renal function:

    1. Solid Tumors - ≥ 1.5 × 109/L, > 9 g/dL, count ≥ 100 × 109/L, /ALT ≤ 2.5 × , ≤ 2, creatinine ≤ 1.5 × ULN or calculated >50 mL/min (Cockcroft-Gault formula)
    2. Hairy Cell Leukemia - Absolute neutrophil count ≤ 1.0 × 109/L, Hgb ≤ 10.0 g/dL or platelet count ≤ 100 × 109/L; AST/ALT ≤ 2.5 × ULN, bilirubin ≤ 2, creatinine ≤ 1.5 × ULN or calculated CrCl >50 mL/min (Cockcroft-Gault formula)
  • Women of must have a negative serum pregnancy test within 14 days of initiating study drug and must agree to use an acceptable method of from the time of the negative pregnancy test up to 6 months after the last dose of study drug. Urine pregnancy testing during the study and in follow-up per country specific requirements. Fertile men must also agree to use an acceptable method of birth control while on study drug and up to 6 months after the last dose of study drug.
  • Completion of previous chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiation therapy at least 2 weeks before study drug initiation, with resolution of all associated toxicity (to ≤ Grade 1 or Baseline)
  • Willingness and ability to provide written prior to any study-related procedures and to comply with all study requirements
  • Eligibility for medical insurance coverage

    1. DOSE-ESCALATION COHORTS
  • advanced solid tumors that are to standard therapy, have no standard therapy, or are considered by the investigator to be inappropriate for standard therapy

    1. EXTENSION COHORTS
  • Cancers with a BRAF-activating mutation as assessed by a CLIA-certified method

    a. Melanoma

  • unresectable Stage IIIC or Stage IV disease (sub-cohort 1a: BRAF/MEK/ERK inhibitor naïve, sub-cohort 1b: BRAF/MEK/ERK inhibitor pre-treated) b. Non-melanoma Solid Tumors
  • advanced anaplastic thyroid cancer, advanced papillary thyroid cancer, and advanced solid tumors (e.g., colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, cholangiocarcinoma, etc) that are refractory to standard therapy, relapsed after standard therapy, have no standard therapy, or are considered by the investigator to be inappropriate for standard therapy c. Hairy Cell Leukemia
  • confirmed classical hairy cell leukemia that failed to achieve CR or PR to initial purine analog-based therapy, relapsed ≤ 2 years after purine analog-based therapy, or a history of intolerance to purine analogs

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Extension Cohorts (except 1b) - Previous treatment with a selective BRAF/MEK/EKR inhibitor
  • Symptomatic . Patients with untreated brain metastasis ≤ 1 cm can be considered eligible if deemed asymptomatic by the investigator upon consultation with the medical monitor and do not require immediate radiation or . Patients with brain metastasis that is treated and stable for 1 month may be considered eligible if they are asymptomatic and on stable dose of steroids or if they do not require steroids following successful local therapy.
  • drug use within 28 days (or \< 5 half-lives, whichever is shorter) of the first dose of PLX8394
  • Major surgical procedure, open (excluding skin cancer resection), or significant traumatic injury within 14 days of initiating study drug (unless the wound has healed) or anticipation of the need for major surgery during the study
  • Uncontrolled intercurrent illness
  • Active secondary unless the malignancy is not expected to interfere with the evaluation of safety and is approved by the Medical Monitor. Examples of the latter include basal or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, in-situ carcinoma of the cervix, and isolated elevation of prostate-specific antigen. Patients with a completely treated prior malignancy and no evidence of disease for ≥ 2 years are eligible.
  • nausea and vomiting, malabsorption, external biliary shunt, or significant bowel resection that would preclude adequate absorption
  • Baseline mean ≥ 450 ms (males) or ≥ 470 ms (females)
  • Women who are breast-feeding or pregnant
  • Known chronic , , or infection
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(25)

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.

Measurable disease

The amount of disease can be tracked with a defined measurement, so the study can see whether it shrinks or grows. It might be a tumour measured on a scan or, in some blood cancers such as myeloma, a marker measured in blood or urine.

The criteria or the study team say which measurement counts — having no tumour visible on a scan does not by itself rule you out.

RECIST

The standard rules for measuring tumours on CT or MRI scans, to tell whether a cancer is shrinking, stable or growing during treatment.

“Measurable disease per RECIST 1.1” usually means at least one tumour 10 mm or more at its longest on a CT scan, or a lymph node 15 mm or more across its short axis.

ECOG performance status

A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.

0
Fully active, no restrictions.
1
Limited in strenuous activity, but walking and able to do light work, such as housework or office work.
2
Walking and able to look after yourself, but unable to work; up and about more than half of waking hours.
3
Able to look after yourself only in part; in bed or a chair more than half of waking hours.
4
Unable to look after yourself at all; in bed or a chair all day.

Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.

Life expectancy

The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.

Absolute neutrophil count (ANC)

The number of neutrophils, white blood cells that help fight infection, in a given amount of blood. Too few raises the risk of infection.

It is a count, not a percentage of the white cells. Limits are written in units that mean the same: ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L is ≥ 1,500 per mm³ (µL). Each lab has its own reference range.

Hemoglobin (Hb)

The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Brain metastases

Cancer deposits in the brain from a cancer that started elsewhere in the body (CNS metastases include the spinal cord).

Studies differ: some leave out any brain metastases, some accept ones treated and stable for some weeks. Check what this study allows.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

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.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

QT and QTc

On an ECG, the QT interval is the time the heart’s lower chambers take to activate electrically and recover in each beat. QTc is that time adjusted for heart rate (QTcF by Fridericia’s formula, QTcB by Bazett’s). Some medicines lengthen it, and a long QTc can raise the risk of a dangerous heart rhythm.

The study may name a correction formula and a limit in milliseconds, often around 450–480.

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.

Hepatitis C tests

Hepatitis C is a virus that infects the liver. An HCV antibody test can stay positive after an infection has cleared (and is occasionally positive without one); an HCV RNA test shows whether the virus is there now.

After treatment, hepatitis C counts as cured when HCV RNA is still undetectable 12 weeks or more after the treatment ended. Studies often accept people cured this way.

Hepatitis B tests

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.

Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
5 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Dose Escalation

    Cohort 1/Day -7 = 300 mg/day PLX8394; Cohort 1/Day 1 = 900 mg/day PLX8394

    Drug: PLX8394

Interventions

  • PLX8394 is a next-generation, orally available, small-molecule, selective inhibitor of BRAF.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Phase 1 dose escalation: Identification of Recommended Phase 2 Dose Safety of PLX8394

    Physical examinations, vital signs, 12-lead electrocardiograms, adverse events, hematology, serum chemistry, and urinalysis will be used to assess safety and tolerability.

    Time frame: 1 Year

Secondary outcomes

  1. Identification of Recommended Phase 2 dose (RP2D)

    Study drug administration is dosed continuously until clinically significant disease progression, discontinuation of study for any reason or one of the stopping criteria is met.

    Time frame: 1 year

07

Study locations

3 sites
  • Scottsdale Healthcare
    Scottsdale, Arizona 85258, United States
  • Huntsman Cancer Institute
    Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, United States
  • Evergreen Hematology & Oncology
    Spokane, Washington 99218, United States
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Oct 19, 2020, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02012231
Lead sponsor
Fore Biotherapeutics
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Dec 16, 2013
Start date
Feb 2014
Primary completion
Sep 2014
Completion
Jun 2015
Last update
Oct 19, 2020

Study contacts

Sunil Sharma, MD
principal investigator · Huntsman Cancer Institute

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is terminated, as verified in May 2016. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Studies of the drug tested here: PLX8394

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