ClinicalTrials.gg
TerminatedNCT02332889Updated May 4, 2018Results posted

Phase I/II: Decitabine/Vaccine Therapy in Relapsed/Refractory Pediatric High Grade Gliomas/Medulloblastomas/CNS PNETs

A Phase 1/2 interventional study of Vaccine (autologous dendritic cells) and Decitabine and Hiltonol in Gliomas, Medulloblastoma and Neuroectodermal Tumors, Primitive, sponsored by University of Louisville. Terminated at 3 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 2 Years to 25 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2018-05-04.

Primary conditionMedulloblastomaRegistry: GliomaReclassifiedWhy we changed it
Registry
Glioma — the first condition term the registry derived for this study.
ClinicalTrials.gg
Medulloblastoma
Why
  1. The study's listed conditions name Medulloblastoma, a narrower term within Glioma.
Confidence
High: the new condition is named in the study's own listed conditions. Of 351 hand-checked studies reclassified this way, 68% were exactly right and 84% in the right disease family; the registry's first term was right for 5% (measured 2026-10-21). How we classify →
Wrong?
Tell us the study's main condition →

Sponsored by University of Louisville · Phase 1/2, Interventional, and Treatment

Why this study was terminated
Transition to a different immunotherapy strategy in the future at our institution
Phase
Phase 1/2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
1
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
2 Years to 25 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The main purpose of this study is to determine the safety of using the combination of decitabine and a cancer vaccine plus Hiltonol. The vaccine will be made from the subject's blood cells and is designed to interact in the subject's body with cells that are programmed to fight specific tumor proteins NY-ESO-1, Melanoma Antigen Gene-A1 (MAGE-A1) and Melanoma Antigen Gene-A3 (MAGE-A3). The decitabine will be given to increase the amount and activity of these cancer proteins on the surface of tumor cells to increase the possibility that the vaccine will stimulate cells to act against the tumor cells. Subjects will be assessed to determine how these tumors respond to the treatment.

Read the detailed description

One of the challenges of the practical application of immunotherapy for brain tumors is the lack of expression of tumor antigens as well as the down-regulation of Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC Class I and II ) molecules, which are needed for antigen presentation. Considering the ability of 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine (DAC) to facilitate the expression of cancer/testis (CT) antigens and major histocompatibility complex molecules (MHC) and the fact that it has good blood brain barrier penetration, it is reasonable to test this approach in a vaccine study for patients who have experienced disease recurrence. The use of a combined approach to tumor immunotherapy - antigen upregulation followed by vaccination - has not been studied in this patient population, and there is a strong biologic rationale for this strategy.

Patients with pediatric brain tumors (medulloblastoma, CNS PNET, high grade glioma) who have experienced disease relapse or progressive refractory disease will be eligible. Each cycle will consist of DAC at low dose administered over a 5 day period, followed by two weekly vaccinations consisting of autologous dendritic cells pulsed with pooled, overlapping peptide mixes derived from full-length MAGE-A1, MAGE-A3, and NY-ESO-1. This dose of DAC is lower than all previously reported doses that have been safely administered in adult patients with Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), and was used in a previous protocol for relapsed and refractory pediatric neuroblastoma and sarcomas. A novel way of stimulating CD4 and CD8 antigen specific T cells is to use a dendritic cells (DC) vaccine approach in which the cells are pulsed with overlapping peptides derived from these antigens, so that patients from several different HLA backgrounds can be enrolled. Overlapping peptide mixes derived from full-length NY-ESO-1, MAGE-A1, or MAGE-A3 have been acquired and consists of 15-mers, with 11 amino acid overlap. The number of DC given in our study (8-10 x 106 peptide pulsed DC) is within the range of doses given in previous studies. Vaccinations are spaced at weekly intervals, based on multiple previous studies in which this approach is taken, and the fact that in vitro re-stimulation of cytolytic T lymphocyte (CTL) generally occurs on a weekly basis. Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is given days 1 through 5 during vaccine weeks, to minimize leukopenia from DAC and to help facilitate antigen presenting cell function. The adjuvant poly-interstitial Cajal-like cell (ICLC; Hiltonol) will be injected immediately after and adjacent to DC vaccine site to enhance DC maturation. We will accrue 10 patients with relapsed, refractory, or progressive pediatric brain tumors over a 3 year period. Cycles will repeat every five weeks, for two cycles. Patients who do not have disease progression after two cycles may receive an additional two cycles of therapy.

02

Conditions studied

  • Gliomas
  • Medulloblastoma
  • Neuroectodermal Tumors, Primitive

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03

In context

Medulloblastoma Reclassified

317 studies on the registry are indexed under Medulloblastoma; 51 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 1 is below the median of 31 across 255 interventional studies indexed under Medulloblastoma.

Browse Medulloblastoma studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Louisville is the lead sponsor of 291 studies on the registry; 54 are open to participants now.

Of its 19 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 7 (37%) have results posted.

Compared within Medulloblastoma, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Glioma. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
2 Years to 25 Years
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

Criteria for enrollment:

  • medulloblastoma, CNS PNET, or high grade glioma. Confirmatory is required at time of initial diagnosis.
  • Because of rapid clinical progression and decline at time of relapse in patients with grade IV gliomas and diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas (DIPGs), and the 4-6 weeks required to develop vaccine, patients with these tumors will be eligible to enroll and have DCs harvested and stored at the time of diagnosis, but will not be treated with vaccine until time of relapse.
  • Age: Patients must be 2 to 25 years of age.

Criteria for treatment:

  • The patient must have experienced relapsed, progressive, or refractory disease.
  • The patient may have gross tumor that has been treated with chemotherapy or radiation prior to study treatment.
  • The patient must have received standard therapy for their tumor.
  • The patient must be at least 90 days from primary radiotherapy.
  • Hematologic Function: absolute neutrophil (ANC): 1000/uL; count: 75,000/uL.
  • Renal Function: or radioisotope (GFR) 70ml/min/1.73 m2 .
  • Cardiac Function: Patient must have normal cardiac function documented by:
  • (>55%) documented by echocardiogram or radionuclide multigated acquisition (MUGA) scan evaluation OR
  • Fractional shortening (≥28%) documented by echocardiogram
  • Liver Function: Total 1.5x normal for age, and serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase ( (ALT)) and serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (SGOT (AST)) 3x normal for age.
  • Room air pulse oximetry >94%.
  • Male and female sexually active patients of reproductive age who wish to participate must agree to use acceptable .
  • Lansky/ performance scale > 50, electrocorticogram () \< or = 2 (Appendix I).

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patient is pregnant.
  • Patients with a positive result for any of the following diagnostic tests: Hep B Ag, Hep B Core Ab, Hep C Ab, -1 Ab, HIV-2 Ab, human T-cell leukemia virus (HTLV-1 Ab), HTLV-2 Ab, rapid plasma reagin (RPR).
  • Patient has a history of disease, specifically inflammatory bowel disease, systemic lupus erythematosis, or rheumatoid arthritis.
  • Patient is receiving high doses of systemic or concurrent chemotherapy at the time of beginning study treatment. (Maximum dose of dexamethasone allowed is 0.1mg/kg/day not to exceed 4mg/day.)
  • Patient has a known systemic to DAC, Hiltonol, or any vaccine component.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(15)

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Autoimmune disease

A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.

Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.

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.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1 / Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
1 participant (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Decitabine/Vaccine Therapy

    Biological/Vaccine: Vaccine (autologous dendritic cells) and Drug: Decitabine and Hiltonol

    Biological: Vaccine (autologous dendritic cells) · Drug: Decitabine and Hiltonol

Interventions

  • BiologicalVaccine (autologous dendritic cells)

    Prior to vaccination, DC will be thawed, washed once with normal saline containing 1% human serum albumin, and viability will be checked (must be \> 70%). Peptide pulsed DC will be placed in 1 ml tuberculin syringe(s) and transferred to the study physician for vaccination

  • DrugDecitabine and Hiltonol

    Drug pages: Decitabine · Poly ICLC

    Patients will receive DAC at a dose of 10 mg/m2/d intravenously (IV) over one hour on days 1-5 of week 1. Hiltonol will be given intramuscularly at the same site immediately following vaccine

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Tolerability (Number of Participants Without Adverse Events)

    Time frame: 20 weeks

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Results

Posted Apr 30, 2018

Participant flow

Participant flow — Overall Study
MilestoneDecitabine/Vaccine Therapy
Started1
Completed0
Not completed1
Withdrew: Physician decision1

Outcome measures

PrimaryTolerability (Number of Participants Without Adverse Events)
Time frame:
20 weeks
Reported as:
Count of participants · Participants
Tolerability (Number of Participants Without Adverse Events)
ParticipantsDecitabine/Vaccine Therapy
Tolerability (Number of Participants Without Adverse Events)1

Adverse events

Non-serious events are listed at a 5% frequency threshold.

Adverse event summary by group
GroupDeathsSeriousOther
Decitabine/Vaccine Therapy0/1 (0%)1/1 (100%)0/1 (0%)
Most frequent serious events
Most frequent serious events
EventDecitabine/Vaccine Therapy
Progressive diseaseNervous system disorders1/1

Baseline characteristics

Age, Categorical
Age, Categorical(Participants)Decitabine/Vaccine Therapy
<=18 years1
Between 18 and 65 years0
>=65 years0
Sex: Female, Male
Sex: Female, Male(Participants)Decitabine/Vaccine Therapy
Female0
Male1
Region of Enrollment
Region of Enrollment(Participants)Decitabine/Vaccine Therapy
United States1
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Study locations

3 sites
  • Pediatric Hematology/Oncology University of Louisville
    Louisville, Kentucky 40202, United States
  • University of Louisville, Kosair Children's Charities Pediatric Clinical Research Unit
    Louisville, Kentucky 40202, United States
  • University of Louisville
    Louisville, Kentucky 40202, United States
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References and documents

Publications

  • Lang F, Liu Y, Chou FJ, Yang C. Genotoxic therapy and resistance mechanism in gliomas. Pharmacol Ther. 2021 Dec;228:107922. doi: 10.1016/j.pharmthera.2021.107922. Epub 2021 Jun 23. PubMed 34171339 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 4, 2018, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02332889
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jan 7, 2015
Start date
Apr 2015
Primary completion
Jul 2016
Completion
Jul 2016
Results posted
Apr 30, 2018
Last update
May 4, 2018

Study contacts

Kenneth G Lucas, MD
principal investigator · University of Louisville

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is terminated, as verified in May 2018. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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