The purpose of this study is to determine whether a medication, fluvastatin, can change melanoma to a state that is less likely to metastasize or recur. Fluvastatin is experimental in this setting because it is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment or prevention of melanoma. However, fluvastatin has been approved by the FDA for treating high cholesterol.
This is an open-label, single arm, study assessing the activity of fluvastatin in shifting the transcriptome in melanoma. Subjects with melanoma will be asked to participate and all subjects will receive the study drug, fluvastatin, for 2 weeks. The primary objective of this study to determine whether administration of fluvastatin changes the melanoma transcriptome The secondary objective of this study is to determine whether administration of fluvastatin changes the gene expression profile of Class 2 melanoma to Class 1 melanoma.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Fluvastatin PO 80mg QD for 2 weeks
RNA-sequencing will be completed on the original diagnostic biopsy and the final melanoma excision
Gene expression profiling will be completed on the original diagnostic biopsy and the final melanoma excision
Genetic profile shift in melanoma transcriptome
The study team will report which of the 28 genes had significant expression changes. A 2-fold change in the appropriate direction with a p-value of at least 0.05 will be considered significant for potential therapeutic value. P-values will be corrected for the false discovery rate using the Benjamini-Hochberg procedure. Fluvastatin successful in shifting the genetic profile in a therapeutic manner if at least half of the 28 genes have significant expression changes
Time frame: Two weeks
Number of patients who convert from Class 2 to Class 1
Number of patients who convert from Class 2 to Class 1 profile on retesting
Time frame: Two weeks
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.