ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT02355535Updated Sep 24, 2020

Procaspase Activating Compound-1 (PAC-1) in the Treatment of Advanced Malignancies - Component 1

A Phase 1 interventional study of PAC-1 in Solid Tumor, Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor and Neuroendocrine Tumors, sponsored by Vanquish Oncology, Inc.. Completed at 3 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 85 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2020-09-24.

Sponsored by Vanquish Oncology, Inc. · Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
48
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years to 85 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This Phase I dose escalation study will evaluate Procaspase Activating Compound-1 (PAC-1), a small molecule that activates procaspase -3 to caspase-3, resulting in apoptosis of cancer cells, in patients with advanced malignancies. As of March 1, 2019, only patients with neuroendocrine tumors will be enrolled in Component 1 of this study. PAC-1 is taken orally on days 1-21 of a 28-day cycle. The maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of PAC-1 (5 dose levels) will be determined using a modified-Fibonacci dose-escalation 3+3 design. Treatment continues until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, physician discretion, or patient refusal.

02

Conditions studied

  • Solid Tumor
  • Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor
  • Neuroendocrine Tumors

Keywords

  • refractory
  • intolerant
  • solid tumors
  • PNET
  • neuroendocrine
03

In context

Adenoma, Islet Cell

113 studies on the registry are indexed under Adenoma, Islet Cell; 30 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 48 is above the median of 38 across 76 interventional studies indexed under Adenoma, Islet Cell.

Browse Adenoma, Islet Cell studies →

Lead sponsor

Vanquish Oncology, Inc. is the lead sponsor of 2 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 85 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

  1. Male or female ≥ 18 years of age
  2. Diagnosis of advanced solid tumor or hematologic (limited to lymphoma) that has failed or become intolerant to standard therapy
  3. Has , defined as at least 1 tumor that fulfills the criteria for a target lesion according to 1.1, or lymphoma that fulfills the Deauville PET Criteria
  4. Has an PS of 0, 1, or 2
  5. Has total \< 1.5 mg/dL, serum albumin > 3.0 gm/dL, and ALT \< 1.5 or \< 3 x ULN for subjects with known hepatic
  6. Has serum creatinine \< 1.5 × ULN
  7. Has ≥ 10 g/dL, ≥ 1.5 × 109/L, and count ≥ 100 × 109/L
  8. Must be able to take oral medication and to maintain a fast as required for 2 hours before and 1 hour after capsule(s) administration
  9. Must be willing and able to comply with study
  10. Has read, understood, and signed the ICF
  11. Women of must not be pregnant or breast-feeding. In addition, a medically acceptable method of must be used or total abstinence. Women who are for at least 1 year or surgically sterile (bilateral tubal ligation, bilateral oophorectomy, or hysterectomy) are not considered to be WOCP
  12. Men who are not surgically or medically sterile must agree to use an acceptable method of contraception. Male patients with female sexual partners who are pregnant, possibly pregnant, or who could become pregnant during the study must agree to use condoms at least one month after the last dose of study drug. Total abstinence for the same study period is an acceptable alternative
  13. Prior systemic treatments for metastatic disease are permitted but may not be ongoing, including targeted therapies, biologic response modifiers, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, or therapy
  14. Willingness to donate blood for biomarker studies related to the type of therapies used in this trial and the tumor types being treated

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Had surgery within 4 weeks prior to study treatment except for minor procedures (hepatic biliary stent placement is allowed)
  2. Gliomas are excluded, as well as any history of , seizures or underlying brain injury
  3. May not have received cytotoxic chemotherapy, targeted therapies, biologic response modifiers, chemotherapy, and hormonal therapy within the last 3 weeks, or nitrosureas within the last 6 weeks prior to study treatment.
  4. Has a history of blood clots, pulmonary embolism, or DVT unless controlled by anticoagulant treatment
  5. Has a history of an arterial thromboembolic event within the prior six months including CVA, , MI, or unstable angina
  6. Has uncontrolled or or C
  7. Has any infection
  8. Has any other severe, uncontrolled medical condition, including uncontrolled DM or unstable CHF
  9. Radiation therapy to more than 25% of the bone marrow
  10. Prior allogeneic bone marrow or organ transplantation
  11. > Grade 1 peripheral neuropathy within 14 days before enrollment.
  12. Patient has received other drugs with 14 days before enrollment
  13. Other severe acute or chronic medical or psychiatric conditions or laboratory abnormality that may increase the risk associated with study participation
  14. Abnormalities on 12-lead (ECG) considered by the investigator to be clinically significant (such as acute ischemia, left bundle branch block, ventricular arrhythmias) or baseline prolongation of the rate- interval (e.g., repeated demonstration of QTc interval > 480 milliseconds)
  15. Presence of any non-healing wound, fracture, or ulcer
  16. Has any condition that, in the opinion of the investigator, might jeopardize the safety of the patient or interfere with protocol compliance
  17. Has any mental or medical condition that prevents the patient from giving
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(23)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

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).

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.

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.

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.

Postmenopausal

Periods have stopped for good: usually no period for 12 months in a row without another medical reason, sometimes confirmed by a blood test (FSH).

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.

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.

TIA (transient ischaemic attack)

A “mini-stroke”: temporary stroke-like symptoms caused by reduced blood flow to part of the brain, spinal cord or eye, without signs of a new stroke on a scan.

Stroke symptoms need emergency care at once, even if they go away.

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 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.

Clinically significant

Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.

ECG (electrocardiogram)

A recording of the heart’s electrical activity, taken with stickers on the chest, arms and legs. It takes a few minutes and does not hurt.

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.

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.

05

Study design

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

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Open label

    Using a dose-escalation design, PAC-1 is administered orally on days 1-21, at the assigned dose, of a 28-day cycle.

    Drug: PAC-1

Interventions

  • DrugPAC-1

    PAC-1 is taken orally on days 1-21 of a 28-day cycle.

    Also known as: Procaspase Activating Compound-1

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Maximum Tolerated Dose

    The primary objective of this study component is to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of PAC-1 in patients with advanced, previously treated malignancy, by evaluation of toxicity and tolerability.

    Time frame: Up to 30 days post last dose

Secondary outcomes

  1. Adverse Effects

    Characterize adverse effects (AE) of PAC-1 in patients with advanced malignancy.

    Time frame: Up to 30 days post final dose

  2. Disease Response based on RECIST Criteria for patients with solid tumors

    Evaluate clinical response of PAC-1 in patients with solid tumors (RECIST v 1.1).

    Time frame: Up to 8 weeks following final dose

  3. Disease Response based on Deauville PET Criteria for patients with lymphoma

    Evaluate clinical response of PAC-1 in patients with lymphoma (Deauville PET Criteria).

    Time frame: Up to 8 weeks following final dose

07

Study locations

3 sites
  • University of Illinois at Chicago
    Chicago, Illinois 60612, United States
  • Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center
    Baltimore, Maryland 21231, United States
  • Regions Hospital
    Saint Paul, Minnesota 55101, United States
08

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Ran from Feb 2015 to primary completion in May 2020, 63 months.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jan 30, 2015
First posted
Feb 4, 2015
StartActual
Feb 2015
Primary completionActual
May 18, 2020
CompletionActual
May 18, 2020
Last update
Sep 24, 2020
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 24, 2020, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02355535
Lead sponsor
Vanquish Oncology, Inc.
Responsible party
Oana Danciu, MD (Assistant Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago) — Principal investigator
First posted
Feb 4, 2015
Start date
Feb 2015
Primary completion
May 18, 2020
Completion
May 18, 2020
Last update
Sep 24, 2020

Study contacts

Oana C Danciu, M.D.
principal investigator · University of Illinois at Chicago

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Sep 2020. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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