A Phase 2 interventional study of Difluoromethylornithine in Medulloblastoma, sponsored by Giselle Sholler. Recruiting at 26 sites in 2 countries. Open to participants aged Up to 21 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-12.
Sponsored by Giselle Sholler · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment
Difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) will be used in an open label, multicenter, study as Maintenance Therapy for Molecular High Risk/Very High Risk and Relapsed/Refractory Medulloblastoma.
In this study subjects will receive 730 Days of oral difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) at a dose of 2500 mg/m2 BID on each day of study.
Subjects will be evaluated in 3 Cohorts:
Cohort 1: Molecular High Risk Medulloblastoma Cohort 2: Molecular Very High Risk Medulloblastoma Cohort 3: Relapsed/Refractory Medulloblastoma
A total of 118 subjects across all cohorts will be enrolled to ensure that there will be 107 evaluable subjects (32-39 per cohort)
317 studies on the registry are indexed under Medulloblastoma; 51 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 118 is above the median of 31 across 255 interventional studies indexed under Medulloblastoma.
Browse Medulloblastoma studies →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.
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.
Pathology All patients must either have a confirmed diagnosis of medulloblastoma with molecular grouping identified by either Nanostring or methylation profiling.
Cohort 1- Molecular High Risk:
Cohort 2- Molecular Very High Risk
Cohort 3: Medulloblastoma
Pre-enrollment tumor survey:
Prior to enrollment on this study, a determination of mandatory disease staging must be performed:
Disease Status: Subjects must have no evidence of disease, or stable* residual nonbulky** disease.
*Stable residual disease defined as non-progression over 2 separate imaging studies at least 6 weeks apart
**Non-bulky disease defined as maximal cross-sectional area \< 3cm\^2 at enrollment. Patients with are allowed to participate on study.
Timing from prior therapy:
Enrollment (first dose of DFMO) no later than 60 days after last dose of conventional chemotherapy. Patients who have undergone high dose chemotherapy (HDCT) with stem cell transplantation (SCT) are eligible if more than 45 days have elapsed since date of last SCT.
Patients must have adequate organ functions at the time of registration:
Exclusion Criteria:
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.
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.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.
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 that has spread to the leptomeninges, the thin layers covering the brain and spinal cord, and the fluid between them. It is not the same as brain metastases.
Criteria often treat it separately, and many studies leave it out even where treated brain metastases are allowed.
Stem cell (bone marrow) transplants. Allogeneic uses cells from a donor; autologous uses your own cells, collected earlier and given back.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Leptomeningeal disease
Cancer that has spread to the leptomeninges, the thin layers covering the brain and spinal cord, and the fluid between them. It is not the same as brain metastases.
Criteria often treat it separately, and many studies leave it out even where treated brain metastases are allowed.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Allogeneic and autologous transplant
Stem cell (bone marrow) transplants. Allogeneic uses cells from a donor; autologous uses your own cells, collected earlier and given back.
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.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
study subjects will receive 730 Days of oral difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) at a dose of 2500 mg/m2 BID on each day of study.
Drug: Difluoromethylornithine
DFMO (difluoromethylornithine is an inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) designated chemically as 2-(difluoromethyl)-DL-ornithine monohydrochloride monohydrate. The dosage form to be used in this study is provided as a convex tablet containing 192 mg eflornithine (equivalent to 250 mg of eflornithine HCl, monohydrate). The tablets are packaged and sealed in opaque white HDPE bottles, and each bottle contains 100 tablets. The DMFO tablets are supplied by USWorldMeds (USWM). The tablets are to be stored at room temperature (20-250C).
Also known as: Eflornithine, DFMO
Number of participants with event free survival (EFS) during study
o To evaluate the efficacy of difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) as a single agent in preventing relapse in patients with molecular high risk and very high risk medulloblastoma, and relapsed/refractory medulloblastoma based upon the 2-year progression-free survival rate (PFS) compared to relevant historical controls.
Time frame: 2 years plus 5 years follow up
Length of time that participants experience Overall Survival (OS)
o To evaluate the efficacy of difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) as a single agent in patients with molecular high risk and very high risk medulloblastoma, and relapsed/refractory medulloblastoma based upon overall survival
Time frame: 7 years
Determine the Overall Response Rate (ORR) of Participants using Modified RANO Criteria
To evaluate the efficacy of difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) as a single agent in patients with molecular high risk and very high risk medulloblastoma, and relapsed/refractory medulloblastoma based upon Response Rate for patients with non-bulky residual disease present.
Time frame: 2 years
Number of Participants with Adverse Events as a Measure of Safety and Tolerability
To develop a complete safety and tolerability profile of difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) in pediatric and young adult subjects with medulloblastoma.
Time frame: 2 years plus 30 days
Determine amount of DFMO in the CSF at 3 hours post dose
o To measure CSF penetration after DFMO administration in pediatric subjects with medulloblastoma
Time frame: 2 years
Plan to share: No
Started Mar 2021 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Mar 2028, 84 months after the start.
Of 38 non-industry phase 2 interventional studies under Medulloblastoma, half reached primary completion within 68 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 52 and three quarters within 114. This study's planned 84 months is above that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 42 studies reached it within 66 months; a quarter within 51 and three quarters within 92.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
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Studies of the drug tested here: Eflornithine
Giselle Sholler