The primary objective of the study is to assess the anti-tumor activity of REVLIMID® (lenalidomide), administered as a single agent, in patients with distantly metastatic thyroid carcinomas which are unresponsive to systemic radioiodine, in terms of tumor response and response duration.
Thalidomide has found new uses as a tumor anti-angiogenesis agent that is capable of diminishing the proliferation of angiogenesis-dependent solid malignancies. Distantly metastatic, unresectable medullary thyroid carcinomas, as well as de-differentiated papillary and follicular thyroid carcinomas, which no longer concentrate radioiodine, have no known effective systemic therapies. We have verified, in the context of a completed phase 2 clinical trial, that thalidomide has significant activity in thyroid carcinomas that are no longer radioiodine avid and are rapidly progressive. This activity has only limited durability of around 7 months and is associated with significant toxicities of sedation, constipation and neuropathy. REVLIMID® (lenalidomide) is an analog of thalidomide with the chemical name, alpha-(3-aminophthalimido) glutarimide. REVLIMID® is noted to be more potent than thalidomide in inhibiting the production of TNF-alpha. It has more than doubled the inhibition of microvessel growth at the same concentration as thalidomide in a rat aorta angiogenesis model as well as greatly enhanced activity as an IMiD. Most importantly, it lacks much of the toxicity of thalidomide, particularly in regards to somnolence, neuropathy, or biochemical effects. In fact, patients with multiple myeloma, known to be resistant to thalidomide, were still seen to exhibit clinical responses to REVLIMID®. This makes REVLIMID® an appropriate agent to investigate in a phase 2 trial in thyroid carcinoma.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
25
Initial dose is 25 mg/day dose will be adjusted accordingly as needed. Dose range for the study is 5 to 25 mg/day
University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center
Lexington, Kentucky, United States
Response Rate
Percentage of patients who responded to treatment (either stable disease or complete response) based on total tumor volume measurements from CT scans.
Time frame: 4 years
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