A phase I/II clinical trial of the reversible LSD1 inhibitor, seclidemstat, in patients with relapsed/refractory Ewing sarcoma.

Abstract

TPS11567 Background: Ewing sarcoma (ES) is a rare, aggressive bone and soft tissue cancer that predominantly afflicts adolescents and young adults. Novel therapeutic agents are needed as there are no approved targeted treatments for this disease. ES is characterized by a chromosomal translocation resulting in an EWS/ETS fusion oncoprotein, a transcription factor that results in aberrant gene expression leading to ES progression. Lysine specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) associates with EWS/ETS oncoproteins to alter gene expression and contribute to disease progression. Directly inhibiting EWS/ETS is challenging and little progress has been made, though targeting LSD1 presents a viable therapeutic strategy for ES. Seclidemstat (SP-2577, Salarius Pharmaceuticals) is a first-in-class, orally bioavailable, small molecule with reversible and noncompetitive selective inhibition of LSD1 at low nanomolar concentrations (IC50: 25-50 nM). Seclidemstat inhibits LSD1’s scaffolding functions and enzymatic activity to help reverse aberrant gene expression. In vitro data show that treatment with seclidemstat, or seclidemstat analog, modulates EWS/ETS transcriptional activity, down-regulating oncogene expression and up-regulating tumor-suppressor gene expression. In in vivo xenograft studies (e.g., SK-N-MC, A673), mice treated with seclidemstat show significant tumor growth inhibition/regression vs the control vehicle group. Methods: This phase 1/2 clinical study of seclidemstat is being conducted in relapsed or refractory ES (NCT03600649). The trial is an open-label, non-randomized dose-escalation/dose-expansion study designed to determine the maximum tolerated dose through single-patient dose escalation followed by traditional 3+3 design. The primary objective is to assess seclidemstat’s safety and tolerability while secondary objectives include pharmacokinetics, efficacy and exploratory pharmacodynamic markers. Patients must be ≥12 years old, have received at least 1 prior line of therapy including a prior camptothecin-based regimen, with a life expectancy > 4 months. All patients receive seclidemstat twice-daily (BID) as oral tablets until unacceptable toxicity or disease progression. Patients are followed for survival until the end of study. The trial is currently recruiting across 8 locations in the United States. Upon identification of the recommended phase 2 dose, that cohort will be expanded to enroll a total of 20 patients. Clinical trial information: NCT03600649 .