A Phase 2 interventional study of Eflornithine and Topotecan in Osteosarcoma and Ewing Sarcoma, sponsored by Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. Recruiting at 3 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 0 Years to 50 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-06.
Sponsored by Milton S. Hershey Medical Center · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment
Ewing sarcoma (EWS) and osteosarcoma primarily affect adolescents and young adults. Common treatments include chemotherapy, surgery and radiation, however, there have been few recent advancements in the standard of care. By incorporating eflornithine (DFMO) as an additional therapy and/or maintenance therapy we hope to safely observe improved event-free survival and overall survival. There are 5 cohorts covered under this master protocol.
250 studies on the registry are indexed under Sarcoma, Ewing; 69 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 406 is above the median of 36 across 204 interventional studies indexed under Sarcoma, Ewing.
Browse Sarcoma, Ewing studies →Milton S. Hershey Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 492 studies on the registry; 60 are open to participants now.
Of its 58 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 46 (79%) have results posted.
Compared within Sarcoma, Ewing, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Osteosarcoma. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →
Cohort 1:
Inclusion Criteria:
confirmed Ewing sarcoma that is or in first or subsequent relapse. Histological confirmation either at initial diagnosis or disease progression.
Relapsed or refractory disease, including at least one of the following:
Organ Function Requirements:
Participants must have adequate renal function as defined as:
Adequate liver function defined as:
Adequate cardiac function defined as:
Exclusion Criteria:
Cohort 2:
Inclusion Criteria:
Age
Participants must be ≤50 years of age at enrollment.
Note:
Diagnosis
Participants with histologic diagnosis (by institutional pathologist) of newly diagnosed Ewing sarcoma or peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) arising from bone or soft tissue and with metastatic disease involving lung, bone, bone marrow, or other metastatic site.
For the purpose of this study, metastatic disease is defined as one or more of the following:
Participants with pulmonary nodules are considered to have metastatic disease if the participant has:
For participants that have a positive FDG-PET scan at study enrollment, a bilateral bone marrow biopsy will be required at study entry. If a bone marrow is required, the suggested approach for participants with large pelvic tumors in which a posterior iliac crest bone marrow biopsy would track through the tumor is to instead undergo 2 marrow biopsies on the contralateral side (either 2 posterior biopsies or one posterior and one anterior biopsy).
Prior Therapy
Participants must have completed 6 cycles of Induction therapy with VDC/IE per US standard of care (including standard modifications). Participants will enroll after the 6th cycle prior to local control.
Organ Function Requirements
Adequate renal function defined as:
Adequate liver function defined as:
Adequate cardiac function defined as:
Exclusion Criteria:
Cohort 3:
Inclusion Criteria:
Age
Participants must be less than 30 years of age at enrollment.
Diagnosis
Participants must have had at least one episode of disease recurrence in the lungs without limitation on number of episodes of recurrence as long as they meet the following criteria:
Note: If surgery related changes such as atelectasis are seen on the post-operative CT scan, participants will remain eligible to enroll as long as the operating surgeon believes that all sites of metastases were resected. Participants with positive microscopic margins will be eligible to enroll.
Performance Level
Participants must have a Lansky Play Scale or Karnofsky Performance Scale score of ≥ 60.
Timing from Prior Therapy
Participants must have fully recovered from the acute toxic effects of all prior chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiotherapy prior to entering this study.
Organ Function Requirements
Hematological:
Adequate renal function defined as:
Adequate liver function defined as:
Adequate cardiac function defined as:
Adequate pulmonary function defined as:
o No evidence of dyspnea at rest, no history of exercise intolerance, and a pulse oximetry >94%.
Exclusion Criteria:
Participants with concurrent local and pulmonary recurrence at the time of most recent episode of disease recurrence preceding enrollment.
Note: participants who had local recurrence previously that has been treated and then presented with an isolated pulmonary recurrence and met the surgical resection criteria stated above will be eligible (see IC #3 above).
Cohort 4A/B:
Inclusion Criteria:
Diagnosis Both Cohorts
Participants must have high grade osteosarcoma and received gross total resection prior to start of Cycle 3 MAP therapy. Participants with positive margins are eligible and may receive radiation therapy. This includes secondary .
o Note: craniofacial osteosarcoma is NOT permitted.
Participants must have had a non-contrast chest CT and primary tumor site imaging consisting of an MRI or CT for optimal visualization of primary tumor site prior to local control. Physical scans and scan reports must be available to submit to BCC.
Note: Two-view plain radiographs of the primary tumor site can be performed for participants who have a metallic prosthetic implant instead of CT or MRI if a significant metal artifact would occur by those imaging modalities;
Cohort A only
Participant must have poor response to induction chemotherapy (those with 10% or more viable tumor remaining after surgery) and localized tumor.
Cohort B only
Have an initial diagnosis of high-grade metastatic extremity or axial osteosarcoma resectable by the treating team.
o Note: Metastatic pulmonary disease is defined as 3 or more lesions >5 mm or 1 lesion >1 cm or biopsy proven pulmonary metastatic disease if not meeting these radiographic criteria;
Following definitive primary surgery, complete removal of all metastases or complete removal planned and deemed feasible.
Non-Diagnostic Inclusion Criteria, Both Cohorts Age
Participants must have a Lansky Play Scale or Karnofsky Performance Scale score of ≥ 60. Participants whose performance status is adversely affected by a pathologic fracture but who are able to undergo treatment are eligible.
Prior Therapy
Participants must have completed standard induction therapy for initial diagnosis osteosarcoma (2 cycles [10weeks]) of MAP, Local control (surgery, assessment of histologic response), and a post-surgery 3rd cycle (5 weeks) of MAP. Participants will enroll after the 3rd cycle of MAP.
Organ Function Requirements
Participants must have adequate renal function defined:
Adequate cardiac function defined as:
Adequate liver function defined as:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
LVEF (left ventricular ejection fraction)
The share of blood the heart’s main pumping chamber (the left ventricle) pushes out with each beat, measured by an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) or a MUGA scan. About 50–70% is normal.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
DFMO will be administered as concurrent therapy during treatment of Ewing sarcoma. Participants completing treatment without experiencing an analytic event will continue to receive DFMO monotherapy as a maintenance treatment for an additional 24 months.
Drug: Eflornithine · Drug: Topotecan · Drug: Cyclophosphamide
DFMO will be administered as concurrent therapy during consolidation treatment of metastatic Ewing sarcoma. Participants completing consolidation treatment without experiencing an analytic event will continue to receive DFMO monotherapy as a post consolidation maintenance treatment for an additional 24 months.
Drug: Eflornithine · Drug: Cyclophosphamide · Drug: Vincristine · Drug: Doxorubicin · Drug: Ifosfamide · Drug: Etoposide
DFMO will be dosed twice daily for 730 days.
Drug: Eflornithine
DFMO will be administered as concurrent therapy during Cycles 4-6 of post-surgery consolidation. Participants completing MAP without experiencing an analytic event will continue to receive DFMO monotherapy as a post consolidation maintenance treatment for an additional 24 months.
Drug: Eflornithine · Drug: Doxorubicin · Drug: Cisplatin · Drug: Methotrexate
DFMO will be administered as concurrent therapy during Cycles 4-6 of post-surgery consolidation. Participants completing MAP without experiencing an analytic event will continue to receive DFMO monotherapy as a post consolidation maintenance treatment for an additional 24 months.
Drug: Eflornithine · Drug: Doxorubicin · Drug: Cisplatin · Drug: Methotrexate
Oral twice daily
Also known as: DFMO
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Number of Cohort 1 participants with relapse free survival (RFS) during study
Cohort 1: To determine if relapse-free survival (RFS) in participants with relapsed or refractory Ewing sarcoma treated with multiagent chemotherapy is improved with the addition of DFMO as compared to historical outcomes of participants treated with the same multiagent chemotherapy without DFMO.
Time frame: 2 years plus 5 years follow up
Number of Cohort 2 participants with event-free survival (EFS) during study
Cohort 2: To determine if event-free survival (EFS) in participants with newly diagnosed metastatic Ewing sarcoma treated with multiagent chemotherapy is improved with the addition of DFMO as compared to historical outcomes of participants treated with the same multiagent chemotherapy without DFMO.
Time frame: 2 years plus 5 years follow up
Cohort 3: Number of Cohort 3 participants at 12 months with disease control
To determine the 12-month disease control rate (DCR) in participants with completely resected recurrent osteosarcoma treated with DFMO as compared to historical controls.
Time frame: 1 year plus 5 years follow up
Cohort 4A: Number of Cohort 4A participants with event-free survival (EFS) during study
Examine whether the addition of DFMO to post-operative chemotherapy with cisplatin, doxorubicin, and methotrexate (MAP) improves the event-free survival (EFS) for participants with osteosarcoma having localized disease with a poor histological response to 10 weeks of pre-operative chemotherapy.
Time frame: 2 years plus 5 years follow up
Cohort 4B: Number of Cohort 4B participants with event-free survival (EFS) during study
Examine whether the addition of DFMO to post-operative chemotherapy with cisplatin, doxorubicin, and methotrexate (MAP) improves the event-free survival (EFS) for participants with osteosarcoma with metastatic disease at diagnosis (Cohort 4B).
Time frame: 2 years plus 5 years follow up
Length of time that participants experience Overall Survival (OS)
To compare overall survival in DFMO-treated participants versus historical controls.
Time frame: 10 Years
Number of Participants with Adverse Events as a Measure of Safety and Tolerability
To characterize safety and tolerability of DFMO plus multiagent chemotherapy.
Time frame: 2 years
Plan to share: No
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Studies of the drug tested here: Eflornithine
Milton S. Hershey Medical Center →