Clinical Trials / Research Studies

Who can participate?

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patient body weight must be above the minimum necessary for the patient to receive the ONC201 dose indicated for the currently enrolling dose level. The minimum body weight ranges from 10-27.5kg depending on the dose level.
• Arm A:
  
  • Patients with glioma who are positive for the H3 K27M mutation (positive testing in CLIA laboratory) and have completed at least one line of prior therapy.
  • Evidence of progression is not required so that ONC201 may be administered to patients in the maintenance setting or to patients with recurrent disease.
  • No more than two episodes of recurrence from radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy
  • Use of bevacizumab solely for treatment of radiation necrosis, pseudoprogression, or treatment effect will not be considered a recurrence.
  • Post-mortem biopsy is required if H3 K27M status of tumor is unknown and archival tumor tissue not available.
• Arm B:
  
  • Patients with newly diagnosed diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), defined as tumors with a pontine epicenter and diffuse involvement of the pons, are eligible with or without histologic confirmation.
  • Post-mortem biopsy is required if H3 K27M status of tumor is unknown and archival tumor tissue not available.
• Arm C:
  
  • Pediatric patients midline gliomas are eligible with or without histologic confirmation and must be eligible for tumor biopsy as deemed by the site Investigator.
• Arm D:
  
  • Pediatric patients with recurrent glioma who are positive for the H3 K27M mutation (positive testing in CLIA laboratory):
    
    • Completed at least one line of prior therapy.
    • Must be willing to undergo serial lumbar puncture to obtain cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
    • Must be scheduled to undergo sedated MRIs.
    • Local anesthesia for spinal tap is also allowed.
    • No more than two prior episodes of recurrence from radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy.
    • Use of bevacizumab solely for treatment of radiation necrosis, pseudoprogression, or treatment effect will not be considered a recurrence.
    • Spinal tap should not be performed if treating clinician or lumbar puncture proceduralist has concern of signs of elevated intracranial pressure, including recent worsening in headache or somnolence.
• Karnofsky ≥ 50 for patients ≥ 16 years of age, and Lansky ≥ 50 for patients < 16 years of age.
• From the projected start of scheduled study treatment, the following time periods must have elapsed:
  
  • 5 half-lives from any investigational agent
  • 4 weeks from cytotoxic therapy (except 23 days for temozolomide and 6 weeks from nitrosoureas)
  • 6 weeks from antibodies, or 4 weeks (or 5 half-lives, whichever is shorter) from other anti-tumor therapies
  • For patients who have received radiotherapy, patients in any arm must be at least 2 weeks from the completion of local palliative radiotherapy (re-irradiation for progressive disease or upfront RT at initial diagnosis).
• Adequate organ function defined as:
  
  • Bone Marrow:
    
    • Peripheral absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥ 1000/mm3 and
    • Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm3 (transfusion independent, defined as not receiving platelet transfusions for at least 7 days prior to enrollment).
  • Renal Function:
    
    • Creatinine clearance or radioisotope glomerular filtration rate (GFR) ≥ 70mL/min/1.73 m2 or normal serum creatinine based on age as shown below or GFR > 70ml/min/1.73m^2:
      
      • Age < 5 years: 0.8 mg/dL maximum
      • Age 5 to < 10 years: 1.0 mg/dL maximum
      • Age 10 to < 15 years: 1.2 mg/dL maximum
      • Age > 15 years: 1.5 mg/dL maximum
  • Liver Function:
    
    • Total Bilirubin (sum of conjugated + unconjugated) ≤ 1.5 x upper limit of institutional normal and
    • SGPT (ALT) ≤ 110 U/L
    • Serum albumin ≥ 2 g/dL.
  • Neurologic Function:
    
    • Patients with seizure disorder may be enrolled if seizure disorder is well controlled.
• Ability to understand a written informed consent document, and the willingness to sign it
• All adverse events Grade > 1 related to prior therapies (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and/or surgery) must be resolved to grade 1 or baseline, except for alopecia and sensory neuropathy Grade ≤ 2, or other Grade ≤ 2 not constituting a safety risk based on investigator's judgment, are acceptable.
• For patients post pubertal:
  
  • Female patients must agree to use effective contraception during the period of the trial and for at least 90 days after completion of treatment.
  • Male patients must be surgically sterile or must agree to use effective contraception during the period of the trial and for at least 90 days after completion of treatment.
  • The decision of effective contraception will be based on the judgment of the principal investigator.
• Corticosteroid dose must be stable or decreasing for at least 3 days prior to the baseline MRI scan.
• MRI brain and entire spine MRI within 14 days prior to start of study drug for Arms A, B, and C..
  
  • Subjects undergoing screening for Arm D must have an MRI of brain and entire spine within 3 months prior to start of study drug.
  • Subjects in Arm D will have a baseline MRI of brain and spine with lumbar puncture after study consent is signed and other eligibility criteria are fulfilled.
• For Arms A, B, C, and D: Ability to swallow and retain orally administered capsules.
• Archival tumor specimen:
  
  • All subjects in all arms submit at least 5 unstained slides from a tumor specimen that harbors H3 K27M mutation if archival tissue is available.
  • For subjects in Arms A or B, if no archival tumor tissue is available, or if H3 K27M status of tumor is unknown, then subjects must agree to submit a post-mortem biopsy specimen.
  • Subjects in Arm C do not require prior tumor biopsy or confirmation of the presence of the H3 K27M mutation.
  • Subjects in Arm D must have confirmation of the presence of the H3 K27M mutation in any glioma sample prior to enrollment.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Evidence of diffuse leptomeningeal disease or evidence of CSF dissemination.
• Current or planned participation in a study of another investigational agent or using an investigational device.
• History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to ONC201 or its excipients.
• Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements.
• Any known clinically significant active infection including bacterial, fungal or viral including hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV) or any underlying disease or in the recent past which could compromise enrollment and safety of the patient.
• Known history of cardiac arrhythmias including atrial fibrillation, tachyarrhythmias or bradycardia, unless arrhythmia is controlled and after Cardiology has cleared patient to receive ONC201. Receiving therapeutic agents known to prolong QT interval will be excluded, however the use of Zofran is permitted. History of CHF, or MI or stroke in the last 3 months will be excluded.
• Active illicit drug use or diagnosis of alcoholism.
• Known additional malignancy that is progressing or requires active treatment within 3 years of start of study drug.
• Concomitant use of potent CYP3A4/5 inhibitors during the treatment phase of the study and within 72 hours prior to starting study drug administration.
• Concomitant use of potent CYP3A4/5 inducers, which include enzyme inducing antiepileptic drugs (EIAEDs), during the treatment phase of the study and within 2 weeks prior to starting treatment. Concurrent dexamethasone is allowed.