Phase I trial of chidamide, an oral HDAC inhibitor, in combination with oral etoposide in patients with refractory/recurrent neuroblastoma.

Abstract

10034 Background: Chidamide, an oral subtype-selective histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, has been shown to be effective in adult patients with hematological tumors. However, there is no data on its safety and efficacy in pediatric cancer patients. Combination of HDAC inhibitors and etoposide have shown synergistic anti-tumor effects in preclinical studies of neuroblastoma. We conducted a phase I trial in pediatric patients with recurrent or refractory neuroblastoma to determine the maximum tolerable dose (MTD) of chidamide combined with oral etoposide treatment. Methods: Daily oral etoposide 35 mg/m2/dose was administered on days 1–21 in combination with escalating doses of chidamide (14 and 17 mg/m2/d) twice weekly in each 28-day cycle using the standard 3 + 3 design. Patients with response or stable disease after two cycles would maintain treatment until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity occurred. Chidamide pharmacokinetic testing was performed. Results: 31 patients were enrolled in this study. The median age was 7 years (range 3 – 18). 14 patients were included in the dose escalation phase (Ia), 17 patients in the expansion cohort (Ib). The MTD of chidamide was 14 mg/m2/d, with dose limiting neutropenia and thrombocytopenia observed at 17 mg/m2/d. Median number of cycles completed was 2.5 (range 1–11). A total of 19 patients (61.3%) experienced treatment-related grade 3/4 hematologic toxicity, and no grade 3/4 non-hematological toxicity was observed. No objective responses were seen. Conclusions: In children with refractory/recurrent neuroblastoma, chidamide is well-tolerated at 14 mg/m2/d twice weekly when combining with oral etoposide 35 mg/m2/d daily. Prolonged disease stability achieved in patients with minimal residual diseases deserves further investigation. Clinical trial information: NCT05338541 .