A trial of GSK2816126 for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, myeloma and other solid tumours

Cancer type:

All cancer types

Status:

Results

Phase:

Phase 1

This trial looked at a drug called GSK2816126 for certain types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), myeloma and other solid tumours.

This trial was open for people to join between 2015 and 2017. The team published the results in 2019.

More about this trial

There are a number of different treatments for non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), myeloma and other solid tumours Open a glossary item . These include chemotherapy, radiotherapy and targeted drugs .

Sometimes these treatments don’t work and the cancer gets worse or comes back afterwards. Researchers are always looking for ways to improve treatment. In this trial they looked at a drug called GSK2816126.

These cancer types need an enzyme Open a glossary item called EZH2 to grow. Early research showed that GSK2816126 could block EZH2 and may stop these cancers growing. This was the first time people had GSK2816126.

The main aims of this trial were to:

find the best dose of GSK2816126
see how well treatment works
learn more about the side effects

Summary of results

The team found the best dose of GSK2816126. But they found that it didn’t work as well as they had hoped.

About this study
This was a phase 1 study. There were 2 parts to the trial.

Part 1 included people with a solid tumour or a type of lymphoma called diffuse large B cell lymphoma.

41 people took part:

21 had solid tumours
20 had lymphoma

Everyone had GSK2816126 as drip into a vein twice a week. The first few people had a low dose. The next few people had a higher dose if they didn’t have any bad side effects. This is called a dose escalation study.

The team planned to open part 2 if the treatment worked. This part would also include people who had myeloma.

Results
The team looked at how well treatment worked. To do this they looked at everyone’s test results.

They had the results for 19 people who had a solid tumour Open a glossary item . They found the cancer:

stayed the same in 8 people
got worse in 11 people

They had the results for 17 people who had lymphoma. They found the lymphoma:

shrunk a little bit in 1 person
stayed the same in 6 people
got worse in 10 people

The person whose cancer shrunk a little had this response for 3 cycles Open a glossary item before treatment stopped working.

The team found there were dosing problems. Having GSK2816126 as a drip into a vein twice a week didn’t work. This was because it cleared the body too quickly and didn’t have time to kill the cancer cells. And having it more often would increase the side effects. It also wasn’t possible to have it a tablet or a capsule.

Once the team found the best dose in part 1, they had planned to test it in more people. But this part of the trial didn’t go ahead due to the dosing difficulties.

Side effects
The most common side effects of GSK2816126 were:

tiredness (fatigue)
feeling sick

The very highest dose that some people had caused changes to the way the liver works. This got better when that particular dose was stopped or reduced.

Conclusion
The researchers found the best dose of GSK2816126. This was the dose that didn’t cause too many side effects. They found that this dose didn’t work as they had hoped. The team concluded GSK2816126 didn’t help people with solid tumours and lymphoma.

Even so, all trial results help doctors and researchers understand more about different cancers and the best way to treat them.

Where this information comes from
We have based this summary on information from the research team. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed Open a glossary item ) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team who did the research. We have not analysed the data ourselves.