High-dose Ascorbate (HDA) in Combination With Standard of Care Azacitidine and Venetoclax in Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML)

NCT ID: NCT07177079

Last Updated: 2025-09-16

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: PHASE1
• Total Enrollment: 30 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-12-31
• Study Completion Date: 2029-12-31

Brief Summary

This is a randomized, open-label, Phase I clinical study with expansion. It will assess the safety and efficacy of high-dose ascorbate administered concomitantly with azacitidine and venetoclax in newly diagnosed AML.

Detailed Description

The purpose of this research study is to see if adding high dose ascorbate (vitamin c) intravenous infusion (IV) to the standard treatment regimen for AML (azacitidine/venetoclax or decitabine/venetoclax) is safe, and also to see if the addition of high dose ascorbate enhances the anti-AML impact of the azacitidine given with standard care.

Conditions

Acute Myeloid Leukemia

Study Design

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

Study Groups

A. Standard of Care (azacitidine and venetoclax)

Twelve patients will be randomized to Arm A.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Azacitidine

Intervention Type: DRUG

A chemotherapy drug known as a hypomethylating agent

Venetoclax

Intervention Type: DRUG

Targeted cancer therapy used to treat certain blood cancers. It specifically targets a protein called BCL-2 to trigger the self-destruction of cancer cells.

Decitabine

Intervention Type: DRUG

Azacitidine may be substituted with decitabine 20 mg/m2 daily, on days 1-5, at PI discretion in the event of toxicity/drug supply shortage.

B. High-dose ascorbate administered concomitantly with azacitidine and venetoclax

As this is the first time high-dose ascorbate has been administered in combination with standard of care (azacitidine and venetoclax), the safety of the combination will be assessed in the first 6 patients randomized to Arm B. These patients will continue with the expansion portion of the study, and an additional 6 patients will be added for a total of 12.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Azacitidine

Intervention Type: DRUG

A chemotherapy drug known as a hypomethylating agent

Venetoclax

Intervention Type: DRUG

Targeted cancer therapy used to treat certain blood cancers. It specifically targets a protein called BCL-2 to trigger the self-destruction of cancer cells.

High-dose ascorbate

Intervention Type: DRUG

Administering vitamin C intravenously to achieve very high concentrations in the bloodstream. In contrast to low doses, which act as antioxidants, these pharmacological doses can function as a pro-oxidant, killing cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed.

Decitabine

Intervention Type: DRUG

Azacitidine may be substituted with decitabine 20 mg/m2 daily, on days 1-5, at PI discretion in the event of toxicity/drug supply shortage.

Interventions

Azacitidine

A chemotherapy drug known as a hypomethylating agent

Intervention Type: DRUG

Venetoclax

Targeted cancer therapy used to treat certain blood cancers. It specifically targets a protein called BCL-2 to trigger the self-destruction of cancer cells.

Intervention Type: DRUG

High-dose ascorbate

Administering vitamin C intravenously to achieve very high concentrations in the bloodstream. In contrast to low doses, which act as antioxidants, these pharmacological doses can function as a pro-oxidant, killing cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed.

Intervention Type: DRUG

Decitabine

Azacitidine may be substituted with decitabine 20 mg/m2 daily, on days 1-5, at PI discretion in the event of toxicity/drug supply shortage.

Intervention Type: DRUG

Other Intervention Names

Vitamin C

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Adults aged ≥ 18 who are deemed unfit for intensive chemotherapy by meeting at least one of the following criteria:

• age ≥ 75
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance of 2-3
• Severe cardiac disorder (e.g., congestive heart failure requiring treatment, ejection fraction ≤ 50%, or chronic stable angina)
• Severe pulmonary disorder (e.g., DLCO ≤ 65% or FEV1 ≤ 65%)
• Creatinine clearance < 45 mL/min
• Hepatic disorder with total bilirubin > 1.5 times the upper limit of normal
• Any other comorbidity that the investigators determine to be incompatible with intensive chemotherapy

Exclusion Criteria

• Participants must have adequate organ function, defined as:

• Aspartate aminotransferase (AST/SGOT) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT/SGPT) ≤ 3.0 x upper limit of normal (ULN)
• International normalized ratio (INR) < 1.5 x ULN and partial thromboplastin time (PTT) < 1.5 x ULN (patient could be eligible if they respond appropriately to correction with FFP or cryoprecipitate)
• Patients with a history of antecedent myelodysplasia (MDS) are eligible if they have not had prior chemotherapy/hypomethylating agent (e.g., azacitidine or decitabine). Prior exposure to other investigational agents could be considered at PI's discretion
• Patients who have developed therapy-related AML after prior radiation or chemotherapy for other malignancy(ies) are eligible if they have not been exposed to hypomethylating agent (e.g., azacitidine or decitabine) and/or venetoclax
• Patients presenting with marked leukocytosis (WBC > 25 k/mm3) should receive cytoreduction with hydroxyurea or cytarabine dose ≤ 1 g/m2 to mitigate the risk of tumor lysis syndrome before initiation of therapy with venetoclax
• For female participants of childbearing potential, a negative serum or urine pregnancy test (sensitivity of at least 25 mIU/mL) at screening
• Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document.
• Both male and female participants of childbearing potential agree to use an adequate method of contraception from screening through 6 months after the last dose of study treatment.

• Patients who have received prior therapy to treat their AML (except for cytoreductive hydroxyurea or cytarabine dose ≤ 1 g/m2 for hyperleukocytosis)
• Known hypersensitivity or allergy to ascorbate, azacitidine/decitabine, or venetoclax
• AML patients with the following cytogenetic/molecular aberrations are not eligible i. t(8;21)(q22;q22.1)/RUNX1::RUNX1T1 ii. inv(16)(p13.1q22) or t(16;16)(p13.1;q22)/ CBFB::MYH11 iii. bZIP in-frame mutated CEBPA without any adverse mutations iv. KMT2A rearrangement v. NPM1 or IDH1 or IDH2 or FLT3-ITD or FLT3-TKD mutation
• Patients with kidney disease needing dialysis, diabetic nephropathy, renal transplant recipients, and those with history of acute or chronic oxalate nephropathy
• Patients with primary hemochromatosis or transfusional iron overload as defined as persistently elevated Ferritin > 1000 ng/mL.
• Patients with type I or type II diabetes mellitus on treatment with short acting insulin who need at least a daily blood glucose monitoring test via finger stick
• Patients with a prior or concurrent malignancy whose natural history or treatment has the potential to interfere with the safety or efficacy assessment of the investigational regimen
• Other major co-morbidities as determined unsuitable per the treating physician
• HIV-infection that is uncontrolled by anti-retroviral therapy. (HIV-infected patients on effective anti- retroviral therapy with undetectable viral load within 6 months are eligible for this study)
• Patients with G6PD (glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase) deficiency
• Patients who are on warfarin or other strong CYP3A4 inducer/inhibitor and cannot have a drug substitution or who decline the drug substitution

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 75 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Kittika Poonsombudlert

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Kittika Poonsombudlert

Clinical Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Kittika Poonsombudlert, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Iowa

Locations

University of Iowa Health Care

Iowa City, Iowa, United States

Countries

United States

Central Contacts

Kittika Poonsombudlert, MD

Role: CONTACT

kittika-poonsombudlert@uiowa.edu

+1 319 356 1770

Facility Contacts

Kittika Poonsombudlert, MD

Role: primary

kittika-poonsombudlert@uiowa.edu

319-356-1770

Kittika Poonsombudlert

Role: backup

kittika-poonsombudlert@uiowa.edu

+1 319 356 1770

Other Identifiers

202506290

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id