A phase 2 study of tasisulam sodium (LY573636 sodium) as second‐line treatment for patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma

BACKGROUND: Tasisulam sodium (hereafter, tasisulam) is a novel anticancer agent that induces apoptosis through the intrinsic pathway and has antiangiogenic activity in preclinical models. Tasisulam demonstrated activity across a broad range of tumors, including melanoma. The primary objective of this phase 2 study was to determine the objective response rate (ORR) in patients who had received 1 previous systemic chemotherapy for unresectable/metastatic melanoma; secondary objectives were to evaluate the clinical response rate (CRR), progression‐free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), duration of response, safety, and pharmacokinetics. METHODS: Tasisulam was administered intravenously on Day 1 of 21‐day cycles according to a lean body weight‐based dosing algorithm targeting a peak plasma concentration (C max ) of 420 μg/mL. RESULTS: In 68 enrolled patients, the median age was 59 years (range, 26‐83 years). No patients had a complete response (CR), 8 patients had a partial response (PR), and 24 patients had stable disease (SD); the ORR (CR + PR) was 11.8%, and the CRR (CR + PR + SD) was 47.1%. The median PFS was 2.6 months, and the median OS was 9.6 months. The predominant treatment‐related grade 3/4 toxicity was thrombocytopenia (20.6% of patients). Tasisulam exhibited a biexponential disposition with a predicted distribution half‐life of 0.3 hours to 2.8 hours and a median terminal elimination half‐life of 10 days (consistent with the turnover of albumin), suggesting that tasisulam is very tightly bound to albumin. CONCLUSIONS: Tasisulam administered at a targeted C max of 420 μg/mL on Day 1 of 21‐day cycles demonstrated activity and tolerable toxicity as second‐line treatment in malignant melanoma. These results led to a registration trial in metastatic melanoma. Cancer 2011;. © 2011 American Cancer Society.