A Phase 2 interventional study of Valproic acid and Simvastatin 20mg in Adenocarcinoma of the Pancreas, sponsored by National Cancer Institute, Naples. Recruiting at 5 sites in 2 countries. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-04-14.
Sponsored by National Cancer Institute, Naples · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment
This is a proof-of-concept, Open label, randomized, multicentric, superiority phase-2 study.
The study hypothesizes that valproic acid (VPA) in combination with simvastatin (SIM) may improve the efficacy of first-line gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel-based regimens and extend progression free survival (PFS) as compared with chemotherapy alone, in patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (mPDAC).
Correlative studies on tumor and blood samples could identify potential biomarkers of toxicity and efficacy helping to define personalized treatment strategy and adding new insight into the antitumor mechanism of the combination approach.
3,517 studies on the registry are indexed under Neoplasm Metastasis; 885 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 240 is above the median of 54 across 2,767 interventional studies indexed under Neoplasm Metastasis.
Browse Neoplasm Metastasis studies →National Cancer Institute, Naples is the lead sponsor of 112 studies on the registry; 39 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Nab-paclitaxel 125 mg/m2 followed by gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 on days 1, 8, and 15 (AG); or nab-paclitaxel 150 mg/m2, followed by gemcitabine 800 mg/m2, followed by cisplatin 30 mg/m2 on days 1 and 15, and oral capecitabine 1250 mg/m2 on days 1-28 (PAXG).
Drug: Gemcitabine 1000 mg · Drug: Nab paclitaxel · Drug: Cisplatin · Drug: Capecitabine
Chemotherapy (AG or PAXG) + simvastatin oral daily at a fixed dosage of 20 mg in combination with increasing doses of valproic acid administered oral daily from day -7 with an intra-patient titration for a final target serum level of 50-100µg/ml.
Drug: Valproic acid · Drug: Simvastatin 20mg · Drug: Gemcitabine 1000 mg · Drug: Nab paclitaxel · Drug: Cisplatin · Drug: Capecitabine
The treatment should be started within 3 days from randomization. One cycle consisted of 28 days of treatment for both arms. Patients will continue to receive study treatment up to 6 cycles until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, physician's decision, patient's refusal, or any other discontinuation criteria. Continuation of treatment, over the six cycles, will be allowed only in case of clinical benefit, defined as continuous decrease of CA19-9 concentration or radiological response, without unacceptable toxicity. All subjects who finish treatment, whichever the reason, will enter in the follow-up. We expect that for the primary endpoint, PFS, follow-up will last up to 10 months after enrollment. Anyhow, all subjects will be followed until death and data on subsequent treatment will be collected.
The treatment should be started within 3 days from randomization. One cycle consisted of 28 days of treatment for both arms. Patients will continue to receive study treatment up to 6 cycles until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, physician's decision, patient's refusal, or any other discontinuation criteria. Continuation of treatment, over the six cycles, will be allowed only in case of clinical benefit, defined as continuous decrease of CA19-9 concentration or radiological response, without unacceptable toxicity. All subjects who finish treatment, whichever the reason, will enter in the follow-up. We expect that for the primary endpoint, PFS, follow-up will last up to 10 months after enrollment. Anyhow, all subjects will be followed until death and data on subsequent treatment will be collected.
The treatment should be started within 3 days from randomization. One cycle consisted of 28 days of treatment for both arms. Patients will continue to receive study treatment up to 6 cycles until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, physician's decision, patient's refusal, or any other discontinuation criteria. Continuation of treatment, over the six cycles, will be allowed only in case of clinical benefit, defined as continuous decrease of CA19-9 concentration or radiological response, without unacceptable toxicity. All subjects who finish treatment, whichever the reason, will enter in the follow-up. We expect that for the primary endpoint, PFS, follow-up will last up to 10 months after enrollment. Anyhow, all subjects will be followed until death and data on subsequent treatment will be collected.
The treatment should be started within 3 days from randomization. One cycle consisted of 28 days of treatment for both arms. Patients will continue to receive study treatment up to 6 cycles until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, physician's decision, patient's refusal, or any other discontinuation criteria. Continuation of treatment, over the six cycles, will be allowed only in case of clinical benefit, defined as continuous decrease of CA19-9 concentration or radiological response, without unacceptable toxicity. All subjects who finish treatment, whichever the reason, will enter in the follow-up. We expect that for the primary endpoint, PFS, follow-up will last up to 10 months after enrollment. Anyhow, all subjects will be followed until death and data on subsequent treatment will be collected.
The treatment should be started within 3 days from randomization. One cycle consisted of 28 days of treatment for both arms. Patients will continue to receive study treatment up to 6 cycles until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, physician's decision, patient's refusal, or any other discontinuation criteria. Continuation of treatment, over the six cycles, will be allowed only in case of clinical benefit, defined as continuous decrease of CA19-9 concentration or radiological response, without unacceptable toxicity. All subjects who finish treatment, whichever the reason, will enter in the follow-up. We expect that for the primary endpoint, PFS, follow-up will last up to 10 months after enrollment. Anyhow, all subjects will be followed until death and data on subsequent treatment will be collected.
The treatment should be started within 3 days from randomization. One cycle consisted of 28 days of treatment for both arms. Patients will continue to receive study treatment up to 6 cycles until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, physician's decision, patient's refusal, or any other discontinuation criteria. Continuation of treatment, over the six cycles, will be allowed only in case of clinical benefit, defined as continuous decrease of CA19-9 concentration or radiological response, without unacceptable toxicity. All subjects who finish treatment, whichever the reason, will enter in the follow-up. We expect that for the primary endpoint, PFS, follow-up will last up to 10 months after enrollment. Anyhow, all subjects will be followed until death and data on subsequent treatment will be collected.
Progression Free Survival (PFS)
PFS is defined as the time from randomization to the first documentation of objective disease progression by RECIST 1.1 criteria, or death due to any cause, whichever occurs first. PFS will be censored at the time of the last available tumor assessment documenting absence of progressive disease for patients alive at the time of analysis.
Time frame: 40 months
Objective Tumor Response Rate (ORR)
Objective Tumor Response Rate (ORR) as defined by RECIST 1.1, calculated as the proportion of patients achieving complete or partial response relative to total enrolled patients.
Time frame: 40 months
Duration of Objective response (DOR)
Duration of Objective response (DOR) defined as the first occurrence of a documented objective response until progression or death for any cause.
Time frame: 40 months
Disease Control Rate (DCR)
Disease Control Rate (DCR) defined as the proportion of patients with complete/partial response and stable disease as their best response.
Time frame: 40 months
Overall Survival (OS)
Overall Survival (OS) defined as the time from randomization to the date of death due to any cause. OS will be censored at the last date the patient was known to be alive for patients alive at the time of analysis.
Time frame: 40 months
Overall toxicity rate
Overall toxicity rate defined as the proportion of patients experiencing any grade AE accordingly to the NCI Common Terminology Criteria of Adverse Events (NCI CTC-AE) Version 5, relative to the total of patients receiving at least one cycle of treatment.AE will be listed individually by the patient and summarized overall (severity grades 1-4) and for grade ≥3 by treatment received.
Time frame: 40 months
Quality of Life (QoL)
Quality of Life (QoL), based on questionnaire EORTC QLQ-C30 at baseline (prior to treatment start, once eligibility is confirmed) and every 8 weeks until 40 weeks after randomization, regardless of disease progression, or death
Time frame: 40 months
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National Cancer Institute, Naples