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Response to Cabergoline and Pasireotide in Non-functioning Pituitary Adenomas and Resistant Prolactinomas

Somatostatin and Dopamine Receptors Expression in Non-functioning Pituitary Adenomas and Resistant Prolactinomas: Correlation With in Vitro and in Vivo Responsiveness to Somatostatin Analogs and Dopamine Agonist

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 2Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT01620138
Enrollment
21
Registered
2012-06-15
Start date
2010-03-31
Completion date
2012-06-30
Last updated
2016-08-22

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

Conditions

Non-functioning Pituitary Adenomas, Prolactinomas

Keywords

Non-functioning pituitary adenomas, Prolactinomas, Cabergoline, Pasireotide, somatostatin receptors, Dopamine receptors

Brief summary

There are no available medical treatment options for patients with non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA) or with resistant prolactinomas to dopamine agonists (DA) who are not cured by surgery. The study of the receptors by quantitative messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression levels and immunohistochemistry analysis might end with a better understanding of these tumors. Besides that, it will be assessed the in vitro and in vivo responses to pasireotide (for NFPA and prolactinomas) and cabergoline (for NFPA). These responses will be compared with the receptor expressions which may be a tool as a predicting element of the response to these compounds.

Detailed description

The goals of this study are: to verify whether cabergoline and pasireotide are effective in NFPA to control tumor re-growth as adjuvant therapy after neurosurgery and whether pasireotide is capable of normalizing the prolactin levels in patients with prolactinomas resistant to cabergoline; to assess the mRNA levels of dopamine receptor type 2 (DR2) and SSTR1-5 and their protein expression; to evaluate the in vitro hormonal response to cabergoline, octreotide and pasireotide; and to determine whether the mRNA DR2/SSTR1-5 and/or protein expression and/or in vitro hormonal response to cabergoline, octreotide and pasireotide correlates with the in vivo response to the former and to the last one. With this data the investigators intend to establish if the mRNA analysis and/or protein expression in NFPA and resistant prolactinomas might be predictive or foretelling factors concerning drug treatment in patients with this kind of pituitary tumors and also evaluate if there is any response in vitro or in vivo to the treatment with pasireotide in NFPA and resistant prolactinomas and with cabergoline in NFPA.

Interventions

DRUGPasireotide

The patients with NFPA will be randomized into two groups: (A) the first one will be treated with pasireotide at the dosage of 900 µg s.c. twice a day for 6 months; (B) the second one, with cabergoline 3 mg/week for six months. The patients with resistant prolactinomas will be treated with pasireotide at the dosage of 600 µg s.c. twice a day. After four weeks of treatment, the patients who normalize serum prolactin level will be maintained at the same dosage, the others who do not achieve normal prolactin level will have their dosage raised to 900 µg s.c. twice a day for six months.

DRUGcabergoline

The patients with NFPA will be randomized into two groups: (A) the first one will be treated with pasireotide at 900 µg s.c. twice a day for 6 months; (B) the second one, with cabergoline 3 mg/week for 6 months. The patients with resistant prolactinomas will be treated with pasireotide at 600 µg s.c. twice a day. After four weeks of treatment, the patients who normalize serum prolactin level will be maintained at the same dosage, the others who do not achieve normal prolactin level will have their dosage raised to 900 µg s.c. twice a day for six months.

Sponsors

Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

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

Inclusion criteria

* Male or female patients aged 18 years or greater * Patients with confirmed diagnosis of NFPA evidenced by: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) confirmation of pituitary adenoma and No pituitary tumoral hormone hypersecretion * Patients with no previous medical treatment * Patients who had been submitted to surgery but not cured. Lack of cure is defined as presence of remnant tumor on MRI at least three months after surgery (without any possible misinterpretation of postsurgical changes) * Patients with confirmed diagnosis of resistant prolactinoma by lack of prolactin normalization with a tolerated cabergoline dosage during 12 weeks * Patients who had been submitted to surgery due to resistance to cabergoline and not cured. Lack of cure is defined as lack of serum prolactin normalization or complete removal of tumor load * Patients who signed the informed consent

Exclusion criteria

* Previous pituitary radiotherapy * High risk for transsphenoidal surgery * Patients with symptomatic cholelithiasis * Diabetic patients on antidiabetic medications those fasting blood glucose is poorly controlled as evidenced by HbA1C \> 8% * Patients with abnormal coagulation (prothrombin time (PT) or partial thromboplastin time (PTT) elevated by 30% above normal limits); * Patients receiving anticoagulants that affect PT or PTT * Patients who have congestive heart failure (NYHA Class III or IV), unstable angina, sustained ventricular tachycardia, clinically significant bradycardia, advanced heart block, history of acute MI less than one year prior to study entry or clinically significant impairment in cardiovascular function * Patients with risk factors for torsade de pointes, i.e. patients with a baseline corrected QT interval (QTc) \> 480 ms, hypokalemia, family history of long QT syndrome, and concomitant medications known to prolong QT interval * Patients with liver disease such as cirrhosis, chronic active hepatitis, or chronic persistent hepatitis, or patients with (alanine aminotransferase) ALT/ (aspartate aminotransferase) AST more than 2 X upper limit of normal (ULN), serum creatinine \> 2.0 X ULN, serum bilirubin \> 2.0 X ULN, serum albumin \< 0.67 X lower limit of normal (LLN) * Patients with white blood cell (WBC) \< 3 X 109/L; Hgb \< LLN; Platelet count (PLT) \< 100 X 109/L * Patients who have any current or prior medical condition that can interfere with the conduct of the study or the evaluation of its results in the opinion of the investigator * Female patients who are pregnant or lactating, or are of childbearing potential and not practicing a medically acceptable method for birth control. Female patients must use barrier contraception with condoms. If oral contraception is used, the patient must have been practicing this method for at least two months prior to enrollment and must agree to continue the oral contraceptive throughout the course of the study and for one month after the last dose of study drug. Male patients who are sexually active are required to use condoms during the study and for 1 month afterwards * Patients who have a history of alcohol or drug abuse in the 6 month period prior to receiving pasireotide

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Tumor Volume Changes for NFPA and Prolactin Level Changes for ProlactinomaBaseline to six monthsMagnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the sella and prolactin will be performed before (baseline) and after 6 months of treatment with cabergoline or pasireotide. Disease progression will be defined as tumor growth \> 25%, stable disease as changes \< 25% and significant tumor shrinkage as \> 25% in tumor volume compared to baseline MRI (baseline to six months).

Countries

Brazil

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Pasireotide
For non-cured patients with resistant prolactinomas , MRI will be performed before and six months after the onset of pasireotide. The efficacy will be evaluated by prolactin dosage every month. For patients harboring a NFPA, treatment will be started at least 3 months after neurosurgery. In this case, the drug efficacy will be evaluated clinically by MRI six months after pasireotide. Pasireotide: The patients with NFPA will be randomized into two groups: (A) the first one will be treated with pasireotide at the dosage of 900 µg s.c. twice a day for 6 months; (B) the second one, with cabergoline 3 mg/week for six months. The patients with resistant prolactinomas will be treated with pasireotide at the dosage of 600 µg s.c. twice a day. After four weeks of treatment, the patients who normalize serum prolactin level will be maintained at the same dosage, the others who do not achieve normal prolactin level will have their dosage raised to 900 µg s.c. twice a day for six months.
12
Cabergoline
In patients with non-functioning pituitary adenoma, treatment will be started at least 3 months after neurosurgery. The drug response will be evaluated clinically by visual field and by Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) before medical treatment and after six months of cabergoline treatment at maximum dose. cabergoline: The patients with NFPA will be randomized into two groups: (A) the first one will be treated with pasireotide at 900 µg s.c. twice a day for 6 months; (B) the second one, with cabergoline 3 mg/week for 6 months. The patients with resistant prolactinomas will be treated with pasireotide at 600 µg s.c. twice a day. After four weeks of treatment, the patients who normalize serum prolactin level will be maintained at the same dosage, the others who do not achieve normal prolactin level will have their dosage raised to 900 µg s.c. twice a day for six months.
9
Total21

Withdrawals & dropouts

PeriodReasonFG000FG001
Overall StudyAdverse Event20
Overall StudyLack of Efficacy10
Overall StudyWithdrawal by Subject30

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicPasireotideCabergolineTotal
Age, Continuous33 years54 years54 years
Region of Enrollment
Brazil
12 participants9 participants21 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
8 Participants5 Participants13 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
4 Participants4 Participants8 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
— / —— / —
other
Total, other adverse events
2 / 120 / 9
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 120 / 9

Outcome results

Primary

Tumor Volume Changes for NFPA and Prolactin Level Changes for Prolactinoma

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the sella and prolactin will be performed before (baseline) and after 6 months of treatment with cabergoline or pasireotide. Disease progression will be defined as tumor growth \> 25%, stable disease as changes \< 25% and significant tumor shrinkage as \> 25% in tumor volume compared to baseline MRI (baseline to six months).

Time frame: Baseline to six months

ArmMeasureValue (MEDIAN)
PasireotideTumor Volume Changes for NFPA and Prolactin Level Changes for Prolactinoma3.8 cmˆ3
CabergolineTumor Volume Changes for NFPA and Prolactin Level Changes for Prolactinoma29.35 cmˆ3
p-value: <0.05Wilcoxon (Mann-Whitney)

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