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Phase 2 Study of Atorvastatin Safety and Antitumor Effects in Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

A Phase II Study of Atorvastatin in Patients With Low Grade or Refractory Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT00185731
Enrollment
25
Registered
2005-09-16
Start date
2005-04-30
Completion date
2012-11-30
Last updated
2017-12-02

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Leukemia, Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin

Brief summary

This is an approach which can inflict significant toxicity. An alternative is to block expression of oncogenes which are over-expressed only in cancer cells, a therapeutic approach which could reduce toxicity to the host while maximizing destruction of the oncogene-dependent malignant cells.

Detailed description

Atorvastatin has been shown to decrease levels of active oncogenes in preclinical studies with murine and human lymphoma cell lines, and administration of statins leads to shrinkage of lymphoma in murine models. Therefore, it may be possible for atorvastatin to decrease levels of active oncogenes in human lymphomas. Further, upon decrease in levels of active oncogenes, human lymphomas may regress. Atorvastatin is a commonly prescribed drug for hypercholesterolemia: targeting the 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase enzyme may also be a way to decrease activation of oncogenes in human lymphoma, with minimal toxicity. For human low grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma, no curative treatment is available; therefore new, non-toxic and targeted therapies are sought for this disease.

Interventions

DRUGAtorvastatin

80 mg orally once daily

Sponsors

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
CollaboratorOTHER
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
CollaboratorOTHER
Burroughs Wellcome
CollaboratorINDUSTRY
Dean Felsher
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* \> 18 years old * Disease criteria: Confirmed by Stanford Pathology to be one of the following Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma (NHL) subtypes: * Chronic lymphocytic leukemia /small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) * Extranodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma * Nodal marginal zone B-cell lymphoma * Splenic marginal zone B-cell lymphoma * Treatment criteria * Untreated: watchful waiting currently appropriate (includes CLL stage 0) o OR * Prior treatment: watchful waiting currently appropriate o OR * Refractory disease * Staging within 4 weeks prior to enrollment (SLL, marginal zone lymphoma) * CT chest (date) * CT abdomen (date) * CT pelvis (date) OR * Staging within 4 weeks prior to enrollment (CLL: CT not required) * Total white blood cell count (WBC) (Value) (date) * Absolute lymphoma cell count (ALC) (Value) (date) * Measurable disease (Site) (Size) OR * CLL (only): elevated absolute lymphoma cell count * Disease amenable to biopsy (must check at least one): * Circulating tumor cells * Positive bone marrow * Palpable involved site (such as lymph node) measuring \> 1.5 cm * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status \<2 (Karnofsky \>60) * Life expectancy of greater than 3 months * Patients must have adequate organ and marrow function * Absolute neutrophil count \> 1,000/uL * Platelets \> 30,000/uL * Total bilirubin within normal institutional limits * Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) / alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ratio \< 2.5 x institutional upper limit of normal * Creatinine within normal institutional limits OR creatinine clearance \> 60 mL/min/1.73 m² for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal. * Women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation. Women of child-bearing potential must have negative BetaHCG at enrollment

Exclusion criteria

* Chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 4 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C) prior to entering the study * Not recovered from adverse events due to agents administered more than four weeks earlier * Has stable low grade lymphoma has had rituximab within 3 months Patient with relapsed or refractory disease has had rituximab within 1 month * Not recovered from adverse events due to surgery performed 4 weeks earlier * Receiving any other investigational agent. Known brain metastases * Taken any statin within the past 6 months prior to enrollment in the trial * Currently abuses alcohol * Currently takes cyclosporin or gemfibrozil Patient has a prior history of rhabdomyolysis * Has uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements. * Pregnant: Patients are not excluded if they are breastfeeding at the time of enrollment, but breastfeeding should be discontinued if the mother is treated with atorvastatin. * HIV-positive patients receiving combination anti-retroviral therapy

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Tumor Apoptosis1 yearExpressed as the number of participants whose tumor cells showed an increase in apoptosis during atorvastatin treatment

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Correlation of Tumor Apoptosis to Clinical Response1 yearThe validity of tumor apoptosis as a biologic endpoint was assessed by correlation to clinical response. A correlation substantially less than 1 is interpreted as a poor correlation, while a correlation near +1 or -1 is interpreted as a strong correlation.
Atorvastatin Toxicity1 yearAssessed as the number of study participants with atorvastatin-related serious adverse events (SAEs).

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Atorvastatin
Atorvastatin, 80mg tablet, orally once daily.
25
Total25

Withdrawals & dropouts

PeriodReasonFG000
Overall StudyNot Eligible1
Overall StudyWithdrawal by Subject1

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicAtorvastatin
Age, Categorical
<=18 years
0 Participants
Age, Categorical
>=65 years
4 Participants
Age, Categorical
Between 18 and 65 years
21 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Hispanic or Latino
2 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Not Hispanic or Latino
22 Participants
Ethnicity (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
1 Participants
Histology
Follicular Lymphoma
6 Participants
Histology
Marginal Zone B-Cell Lymphoma
2 Participants
Histology
Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma
16 Participants
Histology
Splenic Marginal Zone B-Cell Lymphoma
1 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
American Indian or Alaska Native
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Asian
1 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Black or African American
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
More than one race
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
3 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
White
21 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
14 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
11 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
— / —
other
Total, other adverse events
24 / 24
serious
Total, serious adverse events
4 / 24

Outcome results

Primary

Tumor Apoptosis

Expressed as the number of participants whose tumor cells showed an increase in apoptosis during atorvastatin treatment

Time frame: 1 year

Population: 24 participants had tumors sampled for primary endpoint as per protocol. However, 1 withdrew, and only 22 of remaining participants had adequate tumor samples for analysis of apoptosis at baseline and at subsequent time points.

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
AtorvastatinTumor Apoptosis7 Participants
Secondary

Atorvastatin Toxicity

Assessed as the number of study participants with atorvastatin-related serious adverse events (SAEs).

Time frame: 1 year

Population: All study participants who received atorvastatin

ArmMeasureValue (COUNT_OF_PARTICIPANTS)
AtorvastatinAtorvastatin Toxicity4 Participants
Secondary

Correlation of Tumor Apoptosis to Clinical Response

The validity of tumor apoptosis as a biologic endpoint was assessed by correlation to clinical response. A correlation substantially less than 1 is interpreted as a poor correlation, while a correlation near +1 or -1 is interpreted as a strong correlation.

Time frame: 1 year

Population: 24 participants had tumors sampled for primary endpoint as per protocol. However, 1 withdrew and 1 had an inadequate tumor samples for analysis, leaving only 22 remaining participants for analysis of apoptosis at baseline and at subsequent time points.

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
AtorvastatinCorrelation of Tumor Apoptosis to Clinical Response-0.26 Pearson Correlation Coefficient

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026