Overview

Efficacy and Safety of Canakinumab for the Treatment of Anemia in LR-MDS Patients

Status:
Not yet recruiting
Trial end date:
2028-02-29
Target enrollment:
0
Participant gender:
All
Summary
Hematologic improvement of erythrocytes after 6 months of canakinumab treatment.
Phase:
Phase 2
Accepts Healthy Volunteers?
No
Details
Lead Sponsor:
University of Leipzig
Collaborator:
Novartis Pharmaceuticals
Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:

1. Diagnosis of

1. Lower-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS)17 OR

2. Myelodysplastic/myeloproliferative neoplasm (MDS/MPN) including MDS/MPN-RS-T,
MDS/MPNu, aCML, or CMML (as per the World Health Organization [WHO] 2016
classification) Note: Diagnoses will be confirmed by central morphological review
during screening assessment

2. Very low, low or intermediate risk disease MDS with up to 3.5 points according to the
revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) classification (to be
confirmed during screening assessment). For MDS/MPN < 10% bone marrow blasts at
screening. For CMML low or intermediate risk according to CMML-Specific Prognostic
Scoring System (CPSS Score).

3. Non-transfusion dependence (NTD) according to IWG 2018 criteria (0-2 RBCs during last
16 weeks)

4. Symptomatic anemia: has to be documented in the 16 weeks baseline period ending on the
day of inclusion. Patients should be registered only if it is expected at time of
registration that

1. a valid and complete hemoglobin and transfusion history will be available at
inclusion AND

2. the hemoglobin mean over the baseline period will be less than 10 g/dL

5. Relapsed / refractory / intolerant / ineligible (endogenous serum erythropoietin
levels ≥ 200 U/L) to ESA treatment

6. Age ≥ 18 years

7. Written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients meeting any of the following exclusion criteria are not to be enrolled in the
trial.

Compliance with major study procedures

1. Patient does not accept bone marrow sampling during screening and treatment period.

2. Patient does not accept peripheral blood sampling for screening and during treatment.

3. Patient does not accept subcutaneous application of canakinumab every three weeks

Contraindications

4. Known clinically significant anemia due to iron, vitamin B12, or folate deficiencies,
or autoimmune or hereditary hemolytic anemia, or gastrointestinal bleeding

a. iron deficiency must be determined by calculated transferrin saturation (iron/total
iron binding capacity) ≤ 20%, or serum ferritin ≤ 15 µg/L

5. Prior allogeneic or autologous stem cell transplant

6. Known history of diagnosis of AML

Safety

7. Severe neutropenia defined by ANC ≤ 0.5 Gpt/l

8. Severe thrombocytopenia with platelets (PLT) < 30 Gpt/L

9. Serum creatinine > 1.5x ULN OR measured or calculated creatinine clearance < 40 ml/min
(NOTE: creatinine clearance should be calculated per institutional standard. GFR can
also be used)

10. Serum aspartate aminotransferase/serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (AST/SGOT) or
alanine aminotransferase/serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (ALT/SGPT) ≥ 3.0 x upper
limit of normal (ULN) - both have to be measured

11. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) > 2

12. Total bilirubin ≥ 2.0 x ULN

1. higher levels are acceptable if these can be attributed to active red blood cell
precursor destruction within the bone marrow (ie, ineffective erythropoiesis).

2. subjects are excluded if there is evidence of autoimmune hemolytic anemia
manifested as a corrected reticulocyte count of > 2% with either a positive
Coombs' test or over 50% indirect bilirubin

13. Active second malignancy at time of study entry

14. Prior history of malignancies, other than MDS, unless the subject has been free of the
disease for ≥ 5 years. However, subjects with the following history/concurrent
conditions are allowed:

1. Basal or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin

2. Carcinoma in situ of the cervix

3. Carcinoma in situ of the breast

4. Incidental histologic finding of prostate cancer (T1a or T1b using the tumor,
nodes, metastasis [TNM] clinical staging system)

15. Major surgery within 8 weeks prior to screening (NOTE: Subjects must have completely
recovered from any previous surgery prior to inclusion)

16. Myocardial infarction, uncontrolled angina, uncontrolled heart failure, or
uncontrolled cardiac arrhythmia within 6 months prior to screening

17. Positive test result as an indicator for active or latent tuberculosis (evaluation
performed per local treatment guidelines or clinical practice)

18. Subjects with suspected or proven immunocompromised state or infections, including:

1. Known history of testing positive for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
infections.

2. Known active or recurrent, hepatitis B and C (positive or indeterminate
laboratory results).

3. Those with any other medical condition such as active infection, treated or
untreated, which in the opinion of the investigator places the subject at an
unacceptable risk for participation in immunomodulatory therapy.

4. Those requiring systemic or local treatment with any immune modulating agent in
doses with systemic effects e.g.: Prednisone >20 mg (or equivalent) oral or
intravenous daily for >14 days; Prednisone > 5 mg and ≤ 20 mg (or equivalent)
daily for > 30 days; Equivalent dose of methotrexate >15 mg weekly.

5. History of severe allergic or anaphylactic reactions or hypersensitivity to
recombinant proteins or excipients in the investigational product (see
Investigator´s Brochure).

Excluded treatments before and during study treatment

19. Anticancer cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agent or treatment for at least 14 days prior to
registration and during study treatment

20. Corticosteroids or other immunosuppressive therapies (TNF-Blocker, other IL-1 Blocking
Agent, Disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) including ciclosporin,
cyclophosphamide, hydroxychloroquine, leflunomide, methotrexate, mycophenolate,
sulfasalazine) for at least 14 days prior to registration and during study treatment

21. Treatment with ESAs, luspatercept, granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF),
granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) for at least 14 days prior
to registration and during study treatment

22. Treatment with disease modifying agents (eg, immune-modulatory drugs [IMiDs such as
lenalidomide, hypomethylating agents] or experimental agents for underlying MDS
disease for at least 14 days prior to registration and during study treatment

23. Prior treatment with canakinumab

24. Live vaccination during study treatment

Special considerations for females

25. Pregnant or breastfeeding females

26. Positive pregnancy test in women of childbearing potential NOTE: Urine or serum
pregnancy test should be repeated within 3 days prior to receiving study treatment. If
the urine test is positive or cannot be confirmed as negative, a serum pregnancy test
is required additionally

27. Female subjects of childbearing potential unwilling to use an adequate method of
contraception for the course of the study through 90 days after the last dose of study
medication NOTE: Abstinence is acceptable if this is the usual lifestyle and preferred
contraception for the subject

Special considerations for males

28. Male subjects with procreative capacity not willing to use an adequate method of
contraception, starting with the first dose of study therapy through 90 days after the
last dose of study therapy NOTE: Abstinence is acceptable if this is the usual
lifestyle and preferred contraception for the subject

Regulatory requirements

29. Participation in other interventional trials

30. Patients under legal supervision or guardianship