A Phase 2 interventional study of Biospecimen Collection and Carboplatin in Bilateral Retinoblastoma, Childhood Intraocular Retinoblastoma and Group D Retinoblastoma, sponsored by Children's Oncology Group. Recruiting at 20 sites in 3 countries. Open to participants aged Up to 18 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-25.
Sponsored by Children's Oncology Group · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment
This phase II trial tests the safety and side effects of adding melphalan (by injecting it into the eye) to standard chemotherapy in early treatment of patients with retinoblastoma (RB). RB is a type of cancer that forms in the tissues of the retina (the light-sensitive layers of nerve tissue at the back of the eye). It may be hereditary or nonhereditary (sporadic). RB is considered harder to treat (higher risk) when there are vitreous seeds present. Vitreous seeds are RB tumors in the jelly-like fluid of the eye (called the vitreous humor). The term, risk, refers to the chance of the cancer not responding to treatment or coming back after treatment. Melphalan is in a class of medications called alkylating agents. It may kill cancer cells by damaging their deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and stopping them from dividing. Other chemotherapy drugs given during this trial include carboplatin, vincristine, and etoposide. Carboplatin is in a class of medications known as platinum-containing compounds. It works in a way similar to the anticancer drug cisplatin, but may be better tolerated than cisplatin. Carboplatin works by killing, stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells. Vincristine is in a class of medications called vinca alkaloids. It works by stopping cancer cells from growing and dividing and may kill them. Etoposide is in a class of medications known as podophyllotoxin derivatives. It blocks a certain enzyme needed for cell division and DNA repair and may kill cancer cells. Adding melphalan to standard chemotherapy early in treatment may improve the ability to treat vitreous seeds and may be better than standard chemotherapy alone in treating retinoblastoma.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:
I. To determine the feasibility of administering intravitreal melphalan by cycle 6 when given in combination with systemic carboplatin, vincristine, and etoposide (CVE) for the treatment of Group D retinoblastoma with vitreous seeding.
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:
I. To determine the safety and toxicity profile associated with intravitreal melphalan in combination with systemic CVE for the treatment of Group D retinoblastoma with vitreous seeding.
II. To evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal melphalan in conjunction with systemic chemotherapy in Group D intraocular retinoblastoma with vitreous seeding.
EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVES:
I. To determine if eyes that become eligible for injection at cycle 3 or later would have been eligible for injection at diagnosis by retrospective central review of examination under anesthesia (EUA) and ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) images from diagnosis.
II. To validate and standardize the extraction, storage and collection protocols across multiple centers to demonstrate that aqueous humor from eyes undergoing therapy have high enough tumor-derived deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) concentration for whole genome sequencing and RB1 testing.
III. To explore the relationship between highly-recurrent retinoblastoma (RB) somatic copy number alterations (SCNAs) and ocular salvage as well as tumor fraction (% of tumor DNA) as a marker of minimal residual disease and risk of intraocular disease relapse.
IV. To evaluate the effects of intravitreal melphalan therapy in the histopathology of enucleated eyes for progressive or recalcitrant retinoblastoma while on therapy.
V. To evaluate the long-term visual potential of eyes salvaged using intravitreal therapy.
OUTLINE:
CYCLES 1-2: Patients receive CVE regimen consisting of: carboplatin intravenously (IV) over 15-60 minutes on days 1 and 2 of each cycle, vincristine IV on day 1 of each cycle, and etoposide IV over 90-120 minutes on day 1 and 2 of each cycle. Treatment repeats every 28 days for up to 2 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients also undergo ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) and imaging of the eye during a procedure called examination under anesthesia (EUA) at baseline and prior to each cycle, and urine sample collection at baseline and on study. NOTE: UBM is completed prior to cycle 1 only.
CYCLES 3+: Patients receive CVE regimen as in cycles 1-2. Patients also undergo EUA prior to each cycle to determine eligibility to receive melphalan. If found eligible, patients receive intravitreal injection of melphalan once between days -14 to 14 of each cycle. Patients who are not eligible for melphalan for any cycle receive CVE only regimen for that cycle. Treatment repeats every 28 days for up to 4 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Additionally, patients undergo urine sample collection at baseline and on study for Cycles 3-6. NOTE: Patients may be eligible to receive additional cycles of melphalan alone (maximum of 6 injections).
Additionally, patients undergo magnetic resonance imaging and may undergo aqueous humor and tissue sample collection throughout the trial.
After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 4 weeks, then every 3 months for 1 year, and then every 3-6 months for years 2-5.
124 studies on the registry are indexed under Retinoblastoma; 23 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 26 is below the median of 30 across 81 interventional studies indexed under Retinoblastoma.
Browse Retinoblastoma studies →Children's Oncology Group is the lead sponsor of 448 studies on the registry; 36 are open to participants now.
Of its 12 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 11 (92%) have results posted.
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.
Patient must have newly diagnosed intraocular (localized) retinoblastoma and meet one of the following criteria:
A serum creatinine based on age/sex as follows (must be performed within 7 days prior to enrollment; must be repeated prior to the start of protocol therapy if > 7 days have elapsed from their most recent prior assessment):
Note: Estimated GFR (eGFR) from serum creatinine, cystatin C or other estimates are not acceptable for determining eligibility
For patients \< 1 month of age, serum creatinine levels must be \< 1.5 x the treating institution's creatinine (ULN) for patients \< 1 month of age or the creatinine clearance or radioisotope GFR must be >= 70 mL/min/1.73 m\^2
Serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase () (alanine aminotransferase [ALT]) =\< 135 U/L (must be performed within 7 days prior to enrollment; must be repeated prior to the start of protocol therapy if > 7 days have elapsed from their most recent prior assessment)
Exclusion Criteria:
Patients must not have had any prior anti-cancer therapy other than cryotherapy and/or laser therapy (green or infrared) to the study eye(s) and non-study eye, including systemic chemotherapy, intra-arterial chemotherapy, radioactive plaque, brachytherapy, or radiation therapy.
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 that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Able to have children. For women this usually means from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery; for men, unless permanently sterile. Read who the line is about — participants, women, men, or their partners.
Criteria about it usually ask 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Reproductive potential
Able to have children. For women this usually means from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery; for men, unless permanently sterile. Read who the line is about — participants, women, men, or their partners.
Criteria about it usually ask 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.
See Detailed Description
Procedure: Biospecimen Collection · Drug: Carboplatin · Drug: Etoposide · Procedure: Examination Under Anesthesia · Procedure: Magnetic Resonance Imaging · Drug: Melphalan · Procedure: Ultrasound Biomicroscopy · Drug: Vincristine
Undergo aqueous humor, tissue, and blood sample collection
Also known as: Biological Sample Collection, Biospecimen Collected, Specimen Collection
Given IV
Also known as: Blastocarb, Carboplat, Carboplatin Hexal, Carboplatino, Carboplatinum, Carbosin, Carbosol, Carbotec, CBDCA, Displata, Ercar, JM-8, JM8, Nealorin, Novoplatinum, Paraplatin, Paraplatin AQ, Paraplatine, Platinwas, Ribocarbo
Given IV
Also known as: Demethyl Epipodophyllotoxin Ethylidine Glucoside, EPEG, Lastet, Toposar, Vepesid, VP 16, VP 16-213, VP 16213, VP-16, VP-16-213, VP-16213, VP16, VP16213
Undergo imaging of the eye during EUA
Undergo MRI
Also known as: Magnetic Resonance, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Magnetic resonance imaging (procedure), Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scan, Medical Imaging, Magnetic Resonance / Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, MR, MR Imaging, MRI, MRI Scan, MRIs, NMR Imaging, NMRI, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging, sMRI, Structural MRI
Given I-VITRE
Also known as: Alanine Nitrogen Mustard, CB-3025, L-PAM, L-Phenylalanine Mustard, L-Sarcolysin, L-Sarcolysin Phenylalanine mustard, L-Sarcolysine, Melphalan for Injection-Hepatic Delivery System, Melphalanum, Phenylalanine Mustard, Phenylalanine Nitrogen Mustard, Sarcoclorin, Sarkolysin, WR-19813
Undergo UBM during EUA
Also known as: Ultrasound Biomicroscopy (UBM)
Given IV
Also known as: LCR, Leurocristine, VCR, Vincrystine
Feasibility success rate of intravitreal melphalan injection in combination with systemic chemotherapy
A patient will be considered to have experienced intravitreal injection feasibility success if intravitreal melphalan can be delivered by cycle 6. If the treating physician does not inject because the eye has a full complete response (CR) for vitreous seeds after 2 cycles of systemic chemotherapy, it will be counted as a success in the feasibility analysis. Any feasibility evaluable patient who does not experience feasibility success will be considered a feasibility failure. For a bilateral patient with two Group D eyes with vitreous seeds, he/she will be categorized based on the worse results with the intent of being conservative, i.e., if intravitreal melphalan can be delivered in one eye but not the other by cycle 6 for any reason other than a CR of vitreal seeds, the patient will be deemed as experiencing a failure.
Time frame: Up to cycle 6 (1 cycle = 28 days)
Percentage of patients with grade 3 or higher toxicities
Any eligible patient who receives protocol therapy will be considered as evaluable for toxicity.
Time frame: Up to 30 days after last dose of study treatment
Event-free survival (EFS)
Any eligible patient who receives protocol therapy will be considered as evaluable for EFS. Patients who need non-protocol chemotherapy for either the study eye or non-study eye, external beam radiotherapy for either the study eye or non-study eye, or enucleation for the study eye will be considered as having a treatment failure and be considered as experiencing EFS events. The analysis will be conducted per patient level. The EFS along with the 95% confidence intervals will be estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.
Time frame: Up to 5 years
Retrospective central review of examination under anesthesia and ultrasound biomicroscopy images
In order to determine if eyes that become eligible for injection at cycle 3 or later would have been eligible for injection at diagnosis, the retrospective central review on images from diagnosis for eyes that are eligible for injection at cycle 3 or later will be summarized.
Time frame: Cycle 3 or later(1 cycle = 28 days)
Validate and standardize the aqueous humor extraction, storage, and collection protocols across multiple centers
Extract tumor-derived deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), from aqueous humor, for whole genome sequencing and retinoblastoma (RB)1 testing.
Time frame: Up to 5 years
Highly-recurrent RB somatic copy number alterations (SCNAs) tumor fraction
Will explore the relationship between highly-recurrent RB SCNAs and tumor fraction (% of tumor DNA) as a marker of minimal residual disease and risk of intraocular disease relapse.
Time frame: Up to 5 years
Tumor fraction
Will explore the relationship between highly-recurrent RB SCNAs and ocular salvage as well as tumor fraction (% of tumor DNA) as a marker of minimal residual disease and risk of intraocular disease relapse.
Time frame: Up to 5 years
Proportion of enucleated eyes with particular histopathological characteristics that are known or suspected to affect prognosis adversely
Will be calculated along with the 95% confidence interval. The number of evaluable eyes for this aim will depend on the ocular salvage rate.
Time frame: Up to 5 years
Long-term visual potential
Eligible patients who retain the affected eye will be evaluated for visual acuity. The visual acuity will be evaluated prior to cycle 1 and at one year from end of therapy, if age-appropriate. The visual acuity data will be summarized by evaluation time points.
Time frame: Up to 5 years
Not enrolling at this site.
Not enrolling at this site.
Not enrolling at this site.
Started Nov 2022 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Mar 2028, 64 months after the start.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
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Studies of the drug tested here: Melphalan