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Active, not recruitingNCT04301843Updated Sep 3, 2026

Eflornithine (DFMO) and Etoposide for Relapsed/Refractory Neuroblastoma

A Phase 2 interventional study of Eflornithine in Neuroblastoma, sponsored by Giselle Sholler. Active, not recruiting at 29 sites in 2 countries. Open to participants aged Up to 31 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-03.

Sponsored by Giselle Sholler · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
131
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
Up to 31 Years
Sex
All
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Study summary

Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) will be used in an open label, multicenter, study in combination with etoposide for subjects with relapsed/refractory neuroblastoma.

Read the detailed description

Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) will be used in an open label, multicenter, study in combination with etoposide for subjects with relapsed/refractory neuroblastoma.

In this study subjects will receive six 21-day cycles of Etoposide and DFMO followed by an additional 630 days of DFMO alone.

Subjects will be evaluated in 3 arms:

  • Arm 1: Subjects who show no active disease after receiving any additional therapy for neuroblastoma that was refractory to standard induction/consolidation therapy.

Refractory: Subjects with progressive disease on upfront therapy OR did not have at least PR on induction OR required additional second line therapy to achieve remission who are now in first remission.

  • Arm 2: Subjects who have previously relapsed and currently show no active disease (in CR2 or greater).
  • Arm 3: Subjects who are relapsed or refractory with active disease.- CLOSED TO ENROLLMENT
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Conditions studied

  • Neuroblastoma

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03

In context

Neuroblastoma

625 studies on the registry are indexed under Neuroblastoma; 123 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 131 is above the median of 32 across 475 interventional studies indexed under Neuroblastoma.

Browse Neuroblastoma studies →

Lead sponsor

Giselle Sholler is the lead sponsor of 22 studies on the registry; 6 are open to participants now.

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

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
Up to 31 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • All patients must have a pathologically confirmed diagnosis of neuroblastoma, ≤ 30.99 years of age with history of relapsed/refractory neuroblastoma.
  • All patients must have completed upfront therapy with at least 4 cycles of aggressive multi-drug chemotherapy.
  • Specific Criteria by Arm:

Arms 1 and 2:

Subjects with no active disease:

i. No evidence of residual disease by CT/MRI and MIBG scan (or PET for patients who have a history of MIBG non-avid disease).

o Note: Patients with residual masses detected by CT/MRI may be considered in CR if their MIBG is negative or if MIBG positive and evaluated by PET and found to have negative PET scans; biopsy confirmation may be considered if there is still reasonable concern for persistent disease but is not required.

ii. No evidence of disease metastatic to bone marrow.

Arm 3 [CLOSED TO ENROLLMENT]:

Measurable or evaluable disease, including at least one of the following:

Measurable tumor by CT or MRI; or a positive MIBG and PET; or positive bone marrow biopsy/aspirate in at least one site.

  • Timing from prior therapy: Enrollment (first dose of DFMO) no later than 60 days from last dose of the most recent therapy.
  • Subjects must have fully recovered from the acute toxic effects of all prior anti- cancer chemotherapy and be within the following timelines:

    1. Myelosuppressive chemotherapy: Must not have received within 2 weeks of enrollment onto this study (6 weeks if prior nitrosourea).
    2. Hematopoietic growth factors: At least 5 days since the completion of therapy with a growth factor.
    3. Biologic (anti-neoplastic agent): At least 7 days since the completion of therapy with a biologic agent. For agents that have known adverse events occurring beyond 7 days after administration, this period must be extended beyond the time during which adverse events are known to occur. The duration of this interval must be discussed with the Study Chair.
    4. Immunotherapy: At least 6 weeks since the completion of any type of immunotherapy, e.g. tumor vaccines, CAR-T cells.
    5. Anti-GD2 Monoclonal antibodies: At least 2 weeks must have elapsed since prior treatment with a monoclonal antibody.
    6. XRT: At least 14 days since the last treatment except for radiation delivered with palliative intent to a non-target site.
    7. Stem Cell Transplant:

      1. Allogeneic: No evidence of active graft vs. host disease
      2. Allo/Auto: ≥ 2 months must have elapsed since transplant.
    8. MIBG Therapy: At least 8 weeks since treatment with MIBG therapy
  • Subjects must have a Lansky or Karnofsky Performance Scale score of 60% or higher.
  • Life expectancy > 2 months
  • All clinical and laboratory studies for organ functions to determine eligibility must be performed within 7 days prior to first dose of study drug unless otherwise indicated below.
  • Subjects must have adequate organ functions at the time of registration:

    • Hematological: Total absolute neutrophil count ANC ≥750/μL
    • Liver: Subjects must have adequate liver function as defined by AST and ALT \<5x upper limit of normal (Normal=45), Bilirubin \<1.5x upper limit normal (Normal=1.0). Normal PT, PTT, fibrinogen.
    • Renal: Estimated Glomerular Filtration rate (eGFR) as calculated from the Bedside Schwartz equation (in units of mL/min/1.73 m2) or via radioisotope GFR of ≥ 70.

The Bedside Schwartz equation is: [(0.413) X (Height in cm)] / SCr

  • Subjects of childbearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test. Subjects of childbearing potential must agree to use an effective birth control method. Subjects who are lactating must agree to stop breast-feeding.
  • Written informed consent in accordance with institutional and FDA guidelines must be obtained from all subjects (or patients' legal representative).

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • BSA of \<0.25 m2.
  • Subjects that received DFMO at a dose higher than 1000mg/m2 BID prior to this study are not eligible.
  • Subjects that received a dose of DFMO in combination with etoposide are not eligible.
  • Investigational Drugs: Subjects who are currently receiving another investigational drug are excluded from participation.
  • Anti-cancer Agents: Subjects who are currently receiving other anticancer agents are not eligible. Subjects must have fully recovered from hematological and bone marrow suppression effects of prior chemotherapy.
  • Infection: Subjects who have an uncontrolled infection are not eligible until the infection is judged to be well controlled in the opinion of the investigator.
  • Subjects who, in the opinion of the investigator, may not be able to comply with the safety monitoring requirements of the study, or in whom compliance is likely to be suboptimal, should be excluded.
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Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
131 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Eflornithine (DFMO)

    In this study subjects will receive six 21-day cycles of Etoposide and DFMO followed by an additional 630 days of DFMO alone. Etoposide will be given at 50 mg/m2/dose PO daily for the first 14 days of each 21 days until 6 cycles of etoposide are completed. DFMO (difluoromethylornithine) will be given at a dose of 1000 mg/m2 BID on each day of study.

    Drug: Eflornithine

Interventions

  • DrugEflornithine

    DFMO (difluoromethylornithine) will be given at a dose of 1000 mg/m2 BID on each day of study.

    Also known as: DFMO, difluoromethylornithine

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Number of participants with event free survival (EFS) during study

    To evaluate the efficacy of difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) in combination with etoposide in patients with relapsed/refractory neuroblastoma, based upon: o Event free survival (EFS) from time of enrollment.

    Time frame: 2 years plus 5 years follow up

Secondary outcomes

  1. Length of time that participants experience Overall Survival (OS)

    To evaluate the efficacy of difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) in combination with etoposide in patients with relapsed/refractory neuroblastoma, based upon: o Overall Survival (OS) from time of enrollment.

    Time frame: 7 years

  2. Determine the Overall Response Rate (ORR) of Participants using INSS Response Evaluation Criteria.

    To evaluate the efficacy of difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) in combination with etoposide in patients with relapsed/refractory neuroblastoma, based upon: o Response Rate for patients with active disease (Arm 3) using International Neuroblastoma Staging System (INSS) Response Evaluation Criteria.

    Time frame: 2 years

  3. Number of Participants with Adverse Events as a Measure of Safety and Tolerability

    To monitor the safety and tolerability profile of difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) in combination with etoposide in pediatric and young adult patients with relapsed/refractory neuroblastoma.

    Time frame: 2 years plus 30 days

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Study locations

29 sites
  • University of Alabama/Children's of Alabama
    Birmingham, Alabama 35201, United States
  • Arkansas Children's Hospital
    Little Rock, Arkansas 72202, United States
  • UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland
    Oakland, California 94609, United States
  • Rady Children's Hospital
    San Diego, California 92123, United States
  • Connecticut Children's Hospital
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106, United States
  • Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children
    Orlando, Florida 32806, United States
  • St. Joseph's Children's Hospital
    Tampa, Florida 33614, United States
  • Augusta University Health
    Augusta, Georgia 30912, United States
  • University of Iowa
    Iowa City, Iowa 52242, United States
  • Norton Children's Research Institute/Affiliated with University of Louisville School of Medicine
    Louisville, Kentucky 40201, United States
  • Helen DeVos Children's Hospital
    Grand Rapids, Michigan 49503, United States
  • Children's Hospital and Clinics of Minnesota
    Minneapolis, Minnesota 55404, United States
  • Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics
    Kansas City, Missouri 64108, United States
  • Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital
    St Louis, Missouri 63104, United States
  • Hackensack University Medical Center
    Hackensack, New Jersey 07601, United States
  • Levine Children's Hospital
    Charlotte, North Carolina 28204, United States
  • Cleveland Clinic Children's
    Cleveland, Ohio 44195, United States
  • Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Children's Hospital
    Hershey, Pennsylvania 17033, United States
  • Hasbro Children's Hospital
    Providence, Rhode Island 02901, United States
  • Medical University of South Carolina
    Charleston, South Carolina 29425, United States
  • Dell Children's Blood and Cancer Center
    Austin, Texas 78723, United States
  • Children's Medical Center Dallas
    Dallas, Texas 75235, United States
  • Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters
    Norfolk, Virginia 23507, United States
  • Medical College of Wisconsin
    Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226, United States
  • Alberta Children's Hospital
    Calgary, Alberta AB T3B 6A8, Canada
  • CancerCare Manitoba
    Winnipeg, Manitoba MB R3E 0V9, Canada
  • UHC Sainte-Justine
    Montreal, Quebec QC H3S 2G4, Canada
  • Montreal Children's Hospital
    Montreal, Quebec QC H4A 3H9, Canada
  • CHUQ
    Québec, Quebec QC G1V 4W6, Canada
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References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 3, 2026, 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
NCT04301843
Lead sponsor
Giselle Sholler
Collaborators
K C Pharmaceuticals Inc., Beat NB Cancer Foundation, Team Parker for Life, USWM, LLC
Responsible party
Giselle Sholler (Chair, Beat Childhood Cancer, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Mar 10, 2020
Start date
Sep 25, 2020
Primary completion
Oct 1, 2028 (estimated)
Completion
Oct 1, 2033 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 3, 2026

Study contacts

Giselle Sholler, MD
study chair · Beat Childhood Cancer

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Sep 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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