Gemcitabine, Nab-Paclitaxel, and Bosentan for the Treatment of Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer

NCT ID: NCT04158635

Last Updated: 2025-08-19

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: PHASE1
• Total Enrollment: 21 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2021-09-01
• Study Completion Date: 2026-01-27

Brief Summary

This phase I trial studies the side effects and best dose of bosentan and how well it works when given together with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel for the treatment of pancreatic cancer that cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable). Bosentan may block the hormone endothelin and prevent the growth and spread of pancreatic cancer. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving bosentan with chemotherapy (gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel) may work better in treating patients with pancreatic cancer compared to chemotherapy alone.

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

I. To assess the safety, toxicity and feasibility of administering bosentan with nab-paclitaxel and gemcitabine.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To assess the response rate associated with this combination therapy in first line pancreatic cancer patients.

II. To assess the progression-free survival and overall survival of all patients who start protocol therapy, and describe the outcomes based on measures of compliance during the lead-in week, and compliance with supplement during chemotherapy.

EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVES:

I. To determine the impact of bosentan on the mass transport in the tumor (surrogate of alterations in tumor stroma and blood flow). (Pharmacodynamic Investigations) II. To describe the pharmacokinetic profile of nab-paclitaxel and bosentan and compare to historic single-agent profile. (Pharmacokinetic Investigations) III. To explore the association between hepatotoxicity to study agents and organic anion-transporting polypeptide (OATP) polymorphisms. (Pharmacogenomic Investigations) IV. To explore biomarkers on pre-treatment biopsy samples and peripheral blood samples for correlations of predictive of response.

V. To describe quality of life utilizing the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy: General (FACT-G) questionnaire.

OUTLINE:

Patients receive bosentan orally (PO) twice daily (BID) on days -7 to 21 or 8-21 of cycle 1 and days 1-21 of subsequent cycles. Patients also receive nab-paclitaxel intravenously (IV) over 30 minutes and gemcitabine IV over 30 minutes on days 1, 8, and 15. Cycles repeat every 21 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 30 days. Patients who complete study treatment without disease progression are followed up every 2 months until disease progression and then biannually thereafter. Patients who complete study treatment with disease progression are followed up biannually.

Conditions

Stage III Pancreatic Cancer AJCC v8; Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer AJCC v8; Unresectable Pancreatic Carcinoma

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NON_RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Treatment (bosentan, nab-paclitaxel, gemcitabine) - Participant 1-9

Patients receive bosentan PO BID on days 8-21 of cycle 1 and days 1-21 of subsequent cycles.

Patients also receive nab-paclitaxel IV over 30 minutes and gemcitabine IV over 30 minutes on days 1, 8, and 15. Cycles repeat every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Bosentan

Intervention Type: DRUG

Given PO

Gemcitabine

Intervention Type: DRUG

Given IV

Nab-paclitaxel

Intervention Type: DRUG

Given IV

Quality-of-Life Assessment

Intervention Type: OTHER

Ancillary studies

Questionnaire Administration

Intervention Type: OTHER

Ancillary studies

Treatment (bosentan, nab-paclitaxel, gemcitabine) - Participant 10-12

Patients receive bosentan PO BID on days -7 to 21 and days 1-21 of subsequent cycles.

Patients also receive nab-paclitaxel IV over 30 minutes and gemcitabine IV over 30 minutes on days 1, 8, and 15. Cycles repeat every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Bosentan

Intervention Type: DRUG

Given PO

Gemcitabine

Intervention Type: DRUG

Given IV

Nab-paclitaxel

Intervention Type: DRUG

Given IV

Quality-of-Life Assessment

Intervention Type: OTHER

Ancillary studies

Questionnaire Administration

Intervention Type: OTHER

Ancillary studies

Treatment (bosentan, nab-paclitaxel, gemcitabine) - Participant 13-21

Patients receive bosentan PO BID on days 1-21 of cycle 1 and days 1-21 of subsequent cycles.

Patients also receive nab-paclitaxel IV over 30 minutes and gemcitabine IV over 30 minutes on days 1, 8, and 15. Cycles repeat every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Bosentan

Intervention Type: DRUG

Given PO

Gemcitabine

Intervention Type: DRUG

Given IV

Nab-paclitaxel

Intervention Type: DRUG

Given IV

Quality-of-Life Assessment

Intervention Type: OTHER

Ancillary studies

Questionnaire Administration

Intervention Type: OTHER

Ancillary studies

Interventions

Bosentan

Given PO

Intervention Type: DRUG

Gemcitabine

Given IV

Intervention Type: DRUG

Nab-paclitaxel

Given IV

Intervention Type: DRUG

Quality-of-Life Assessment

Ancillary studies

Intervention Type: OTHER

Questionnaire Administration

Ancillary studies

Intervention Type: OTHER

Other Intervention Names

Bosentan Monohydrate; Ro 47-0203; Tracleer; dFdC; dFdCyd; Difluorodeoxycytidine; ABI 007; ABI-007; Abraxane; Albumin-bound Paclitaxel; Albumin-Stabilized Nanoparticle Paclitaxel; Nanoparticle Albumin-bound Paclitaxel; Nanoparticle Paclitaxel; Paclitaxel Albumin; paclitaxel albumin-stabilized nanoparticle formulation; protein-bound paclitaxel; Quality of Life Assessment

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Adult patients with unresectable pancreatic carcinoma
• Patients must be a candidate to receive one of the following chemotherapy combinations as determined by the treating physician:

Arm A2: gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel given every 2 weeks (arm A1 is closed per this amendment)

Arm B: mFOLFIRINOX given every 2 weeks

• Willingness to permit study team to obtain and use archival tissue, if already existing, or, be willing to undergo a fresh tumor biopsy if clinically possible (exceptions may be provided by study PI if medically unsafe to perform biopsy).
• Weight ≥ 40 kg
• ANC ≥ 1500/mm3; platelets ≥ 100,000/mm3
• AST, ALT ≤ 1.5 x ULN. Patients with liver metastases ≤ 3 x ULN
• Total serum bilirubin ≤ 1.5 x ULN
• Creatinine clearence ≥ 60 mL/min

Exclusion Criteria

• Current or planned use of Warfarin, Cyclosporine A, Rifampicin, Glyburide (other diabetic medications are allowed)
• Current or planned use of agents contraindicated for use with strong CYP3A4 inducers
• Strong inhibitors or inducers of CYP2C9
• Strong inhibitors or inducers of CYP3A
• Agent or agents that moderately inhibit both CYP2C9 and CYP3A (via a single concomitant agent, or co-administration of concomitant agents)
• No other prior malignancy is allowed except for the following: adequately treated basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer, in situ cervical cancer, adequately treated Stage I or II cancer from which the patient is currently in complete remission, or any other cancer from which the patient has been disease free for five years.
• Current or history of ≥ Grade 2 peripheral neuropathy
• Known allergy to eggs or any of the components within the study agents and/or their excipients.

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

City of Hope Medical Center

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Ravi Salgia

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

City of Hope Medical Center

Locations

City of Hope Medical Center

Duarte, California, United States

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

United States

Facility Contacts

Ravi Salgia

Role: primary

rsalgia@coh.org

626-218-3712

Other Identifiers

NCI-2021-06609

Identifier Type: REGISTRY

Identifier Source: secondary_id

19312

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

21314

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id