This investigator-initiated, multicenter clinical trial will evaluate the safety and preliminary effectiveness of adding entacapone to bevacizumab in adults with isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH)-wildtype glioblastoma at first recurrence after standard first-line treatment. Participants must not have previously received bevacizumab. A multidisciplinary neuro-oncology team must determine that repeat tumor resection is not appropriate, or the patient must decline repeat surgery after being informed of its potential benefits and risks. The study has two stages. In the first stage, 6 participants who can be evaluated for dose-limiting toxicity will receive open-label entacapone 400 mg by mouth three times daily plus bevacizumab. Enrollment will occur in two cohorts of 3, with safety review by an independent data and safety monitoring board. Up to 3 participants who cannot complete the 28-day toxicity evaluation for reasons unrelated to toxicity may be replaced. If the combination has acceptable safety and the required approvals are obtained, 90 new participants will enter the second stage and be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to entacapone or matching placebo. Both groups will receive bevacizumab. The primary endpoint of the randomized stage is progression-free survival assessed by blinded independent central review. The study plans to obtain data from 96 evaluable participants, with no more than 99 participants receiving study treatment.
Glioblastoma commonly recurs after surgery and standard chemoradiotherapy, and treatment options at recurrence remain limited. Preclinical research by the study team indicates that myoferlin (MYOF) facilitates the nuclear translocation of phosphorylated STAT3 and that entacapone can target MYOF and inhibit glioma growth in experimental models. This study evaluates a drug-repurposing strategy combining inhibition of the MYOF/p-STAT3 signaling pathway with bevacizumab-based antiangiogenic treatment. Stage 1 is an open-label, single-target-dose safety lead-in. Participants will receive entacapone 400 mg orally three times daily together with bevacizumab 10 mg/kg intravenously every 2 weeks. Six participants evaluable for dose-limiting toxicity will be enrolled in two sequential cohorts of 3. If 0 or 1 participant in the first cohort experiences a dose-limiting toxicity during the initial 28-day evaluation period, enrollment of the second cohort may proceed after review by the independent data and safety monitoring board. If 2 or more participants experience dose-limiting toxicity at any time, enrollment and study treatment will be paused for safety review. Transition to Stage 2 requires no more than 1 dose-limiting toxicity among 6 evaluable participants, acceptable overall safety, written support from the data and safety monitoring board, ethics committee stage review, and institutional authorization. Up to 3 participants who are not evaluable for non-toxicity reasons may be replaced. Stage 2 will enroll 90 new participants. Participants will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to entacapone 400 mg orally three times daily or matching placebo. Both groups will receive bevacizumab 10 mg/kg intravenously every 2 weeks. If treatment-related adverse reactions occur, entacapone or matching placebo may be reduced to 200 mg three times daily and may not subsequently be increased. Oral study treatment may continue for up to 13 cycles or 364 days, subject to protocol-defined discontinuation criteria. Tumor imaging will be performed every 8 weeks. The primary efficacy endpoint is progression-free survival, defined as the time from randomization to disease progression according to Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology 2.0 criteria, as determined by blinded independent central review, or death from any cause, whichever occurs first. Participants in the safety lead-in will not enter the randomized stage, and their data will not be included in the primary efficacy analysis of Stage 2.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
TRIPLE
Enrollment
96
Entacapone is administered orally at a starting dose of 400 mg three times daily in the open-label safety lead-in and the experimental arm of the randomized stage. If a treatment-related adverse reaction occurs, the dose may be reduced to 200 mg three times daily and may not subsequently be increased. Treatment may continue for up to 13 cycles (364 days), subject to protocol-defined discontinuation criteria.
Bevacizumab is administered intravenously at a dose of 10 mg/kg every 2 weeks as background treatment in all three study arms. Treatment is continued or discontinued according to disease status, safety, participant preference, and the protocol-defined treatment discontinuation criteria.
A matching placebo is administered orally three times daily in the control arm of Stage 2. If a treatment-related adverse reaction occurs, the blinded study treatment may be reduced using the same dose-reduction procedure corresponding to entacapone 200 mg three times daily, without subsequent dose re-escalation. Treatment may continue for up to 13 cycles (364 days), subject to protocol-defined discontinuation criteria.
The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University
Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China
Number of Participants With Dose-Limiting Toxicities
The number of dose-limiting toxicity-evaluable participants who experience at least one protocol-defined dose-limiting toxicity during the initial 28-day safety evaluation period will be reported. Each participant will be counted once, regardless of the number of dose-limiting toxicities experienced. A lower number indicates better tolerability.
Time frame: From the first dose through Day 28
Progression-Free Survival Assessed by Blinded Independent Central Review
Progression-free survival is defined as the time from randomization to the first documented disease progression according to Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology 2.0 criteria, as determined by blinded independent central review, or death from any cause, whichever occurs first. Participants without an event will be censored at the date of their last adequate blinded independent central review assessment.
Time frame: From randomization until disease progression or death from any cause, assessed up to 30 months
Overall Survival
Overall survival is defined as the time from randomization to death from any cause. Participants who are alive at the time of analysis will be censored at the date on which they were last known to be alive.
Time frame: From randomization until death from any cause, assessed up to 30 months
Progression-Free Survival Rate at 6 Months Assessed by Blinded Independent Central Review
The proportion of participants who are alive and free from disease progression at 6 months after randomization will be estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Disease progression will be determined by blinded independent central review according to Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology 2.0 criteria.
Time frame: At 6 months after randomization
Objective Response Rate Assessed by Blinded Independent Central Review
Objective response rate is defined as the proportion of randomized participants whose best overall response is complete response or partial response, as determined by blinded independent central review according to Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology 2.0 criteria.
Time frame: From randomization until disease progression or initiation of subsequent anticancer therapy, assessed up to 30 months
Duration of Response Assessed by Blinded Independent Central Review
Among participants who achieve a complete or partial response, duration of response is defined as the time from the first documented objective response to disease progression, as determined by blinded independent central review according to Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology 2.0 criteria, or death from any cause, whichever occurs first.
Time frame: From the first documented objective response until disease progression or death, assessed up to 30 months
Investigator-Assessed Progression-Free Survival
Investigator-assessed progression-free survival is defined as the time from randomization to the first documented disease progression according to Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology 2.0 criteria, as assessed by the site investigator, or death from any cause, whichever occurs first. Participants without an event will be censored at the date of their last adequate investigator-assessed disease evaluation.
Time frame: From randomization until disease progression or death from any cause, assessed up to 30 months
Change From Baseline in Karnofsky Performance Status
Karnofsky Performance Status is assessed on a scale from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better functional status. Change from baseline will be calculated as the post-baseline score minus the baseline score. A positive change indicates improvement and a negative change indicates deterioration.
Time frame: Baseline and every 8 weeks during disease follow-up, assessed up to 30 months
Change From Baseline in Neurologic Assessment in Neuro-Oncology Scale Score
The Neurologic Assessment in Neuro-Oncology scale evaluates nine neurologic domains and yields a total score ranging from 0 to 23. Higher scores indicate greater neurologic impairment. Change from baseline will be calculated as the post-baseline score minus the baseline score. A positive change indicates neurologic deterioration and a negative change indicates improvement.
Time frame: Baseline and every 8 weeks during disease follow-up, assessed up to 30 months
Change From Baseline in EORTC QLQ-C30 Scores
The European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire-Core 30 assesses global health status and quality of life, functioning, and cancer-related symptoms. Scores are linearly transformed to a scale from 0 to 100. Higher scores on the global health status and functioning scales indicate better status, whereas higher symptom scores indicate greater symptom burden. Changes from baseline will be summarized by treatment group and assessment time.
Time frame: Baseline, every 8 weeks, and at the end-of-treatment visit, assessed up to 30 months
Change From Baseline in Dexamethasone-Equivalent Daily Corticosteroid Dose
Systemic corticosteroid use will be converted to the dexamethasone-equivalent daily dose in milligrams per day. Change from baseline will be calculated as the post-baseline daily dose minus the baseline daily dose. A negative change indicates a reduction in corticosteroid requirement.
Time frame: Baseline, every 8 weeks, and at the end-of-treatment visit, assessed up to 30 months
Adherence to Oral Study Treatment
Adherence to entacapone or matching placebo will be calculated as the number of doses actually taken divided by the number of doses planned, multiplied by 100%. Adherence will be assessed using participant medication diaries, tablet counts, drug dispensing and return records, and participant interviews. Higher percentages indicate greater adherence.
Time frame: From the first dose through the end of oral study treatment, up to 364 days
Duration of Exposure to Oral Study Treatment
The duration of exposure to entacapone or matching placebo will be calculated from the date of the first dose to the date of the last dose. Treatment duration, dose level, dose reductions, treatment interruptions, and reasons for treatment discontinuation will be summarized by treatment group.
Time frame: From the first dose through the last dose of oral study treatment, up to 364 days
Number of Participants With Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events
The number and proportion of participants who experience one or more treatment-emergent adverse events will be reported. Adverse events will be summarized according to severity, seriousness, relationship to study treatment, and whether they result in dose reduction, treatment interruption, or permanent treatment discontinuation.
Time frame: From the first dose through 30 days after the last dose of any study treatment, assessed up to 36 months
Number of Participants With Serious Adverse Events
The number and proportion of participants who experience one or more serious adverse events will be reported. Serious adverse events will be summarized by event type, severity, relationship to study treatment, outcome, and action taken with the study treatment.
Time frame: From informed consent through 30 days after the last dose of any study treatment, assessed up to 36 months
Number of Participants With Adverse Events of Special Interest
The number and proportion of participants who experience one or more protocol-defined adverse events of special interest will be reported. Events will be summarized by category, severity, relationship to study treatment, clinical outcome, and any resulting dose modification, treatment interruption, or permanent discontinuation.
Time frame: From the first dose through 30 days after the last dose of any study treatment, assessed up to 36 months
Number of Participants With Clinically Significant Liver Test Abnormalities
The number and proportion of participants with protocol-defined clinically significant abnormalities in alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, total or direct bilirubin, or alkaline phosphatase will be reported. Changes from baseline, severity, clinical interpretation, relationship to study treatment, and any resulting treatment modification will be summarized.
Time frame: From the first dose through 30 days after the last dose of any study treatment, assessed up to 36 months
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.