Cytarabine and Clofarabine in Treating Patients With Refractory or Relapsed Acute Myeloid Leukemia or Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Wake Forest University (WFU)

Status and phase

Completed

Phase 1

Conditions

Leukemia

Treatments

Drug: clofarabine

Drug: cytarabine

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

NIH

Identifiers

NCT00295841

CCCWFU-BG04-519

CDR0000466307

CCCWFU-21204

ILEX-CCCWFU-21204

Details and patient eligibility

About

RATIONALE: Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as cytarabine and clofarabine, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells or by stopping them from dividing. Giving more than one drug (combination chemotherapy) may kill more cancer cells.

PURPOSE: This phase I trial is studying the side effects and best dose of clofarabine when given together with cytarabine and to see how well they work in treating patients with refractory or relapsed acute myeloid leukemia or acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Full description

OBJECTIVES:

Determine the response rate in adult patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia or acute lymphoblastic leukemia treated with high-dose cytarabine followed by clofarabine.
Document the safety profile and tolerability of this regimen in these patients.
Phase I: Patients receive high-dose cytarabine IV over 3 hours followed by clofarabine IV over 2 hours on days 1-5. Treatment repeats for up to 4 courses (1-2 induction courses, 2-3 post-remission courses) in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

A cohort of 3-6 patients receives the starting dose of clofarabine. If 1 of 6 patients experiences dose-limiting toxicity (DLT), a subsequent cohort of patients receives clofarabine at the next higher dose. If ≥ 2 of 6 patients experience DLT, the dose of cytarabine is reduced and subsequent cohorts of patients receive cytarabine at reduced doses and clofarabine as per the dose-escalation scheme above.

PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 9 patients will be accrued for this study.

Enrollment

53 patients

Sex

All

Ages

18 to 120 years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

DISEASE CHARACTERISTICS:

Pathologic confirmation of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)
- No M3 AML
Meets 1 of the following criteria:
- In first relapse
- In second relapse after a second complete remission (CR) that lasted ≥ 3 months
- Refractory to initial induction therapy
No symptomatic CNS involvement

PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS:

ECOG performance status ≤ 2
Creatinine < 2 mg/dL
Bilirubin ≤ 2 mg/dL
AST and ALT ≤ 4 times upper limit of normal
Not pregnant or nursing
Negative pregnancy test
Fertile patients must use effective contraception during and for 2 weeks after completing study treatment
Ejection fraction ≥ 45% by echocardiogram
No active, uncontrolled systemic infection considered opportunistic, life-threatening, or clinically significant
No psychiatric disorders that would interfere with giving consent, study participation, or follow-up procedures
No other severe concurrent disease that would preclude study treatment

PRIOR CONCURRENT THERAPY:

At least 1 week since prior therapy and recovered
No other concurrent chemotherapy
- Hydroxyurea to control WBC count before starting study treatment allowed
No concurrent corticosteroids unless used for diseases other than leukemia
No concurrent palliative radiotherapy
No concurrent growth factors (e.g., epoetin alfa, filgrastim [G-CSF], or sargramostim [GM-CSF]) in patients with AML