Safety, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Antitumor Activity of Dalantercept, an Activin Receptor–Like Kinase-1 Ligand Trap, in Patients with Advanced Cancer
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Published OnlineFirst October 30, 2013; DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-13-1840 Clinical Cancer Cancer Therapy: Clinical Research Safety, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Antitumor Activity of Dalantercept, an Activin Receptor–like Kinase-1 Ligand Trap, in Patients with Advanced Cancer Johanna C. Bendell1, Michael S. Gordon2, Herbert I. Hurwitz3, Suzanne F. Jones1, David S. Mendelson2, Gerard C. Blobe3, Neeraj Agarwal4, Carolyn H. Condon5, Dawn Wilson5, Amelia E. Pearsall5, Yijun Yang5, Ty McClure5, Kenneth M. Attie5, Matthew L. Sherman5, and Sunil Sharma4 Abstract Purpose: The angiogenesis inhibitor dalantercept (formerly ACE-041) is a soluble form of activin receptor–like kinase-1 (ALK1) that prevents activation of endogenous ALK1 by bone morphogenetic protein-9 (BMP9) and BMP10 and exhibits antitumor activity in preclinical models. This first-in-human study of dalantercept evaluated its safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and antitu- mor activity in adults with advanced solid tumors. Experimental Design: Patients in dose-escalating cohorts received dalantercept subcutaneously at one of seven dose levels (0.1–4.8 mg/kg) every 3 weeks until disease progression. Patients in an expansion cohort received dalantercept at 0.8 or 1.6 mg/kg every 3 weeks until disease progression. Results: In 37 patients receiving dalantercept, the most common treatment-related adverse events were peripheral edema, fatigue, and anemia. Edema and fluid retention were dose-limiting toxicities and responded to diuretic therapy. No clinically significant, treatment-related hypertension, proteinuria, gross hemorrhage, or gastrointestinal perforations were observed. One patient with refractory squamous cell cancer of the head and neck had a partial response, and 13 patients had stable disease according to RECISTv1.1, eight of whom had prolonged periods (12 weeks) of stable disease. Correlative pharma- codynamic markers included tumor metabolic activity and tumor blood flow, which decreased from baseline in 63% and 82% of evaluable patients, respectively, and telangiectasia in eight patients. Conclusion: Dalantercept was well-tolerated at doses up to 1.6 mg/kg, with a safety profile distinct from inhibitors of the VEGF pathway. Dalantercept displayed promising antitumor activity in patients with advanced refractory cancer, and multiple phase II studies are underway. Clin Cancer Res; 20(2); 1–10. Ó2013 AACR. Introduction development of anticancer agents that target angiogenesis Tumor growth and metastases are dependent on angio- (1, 5), including monoclonal antibodies against VEGF and genesis, the development of new blood vessels from existing small-molecule inhibitors of VEGF receptors and other vascular networks. Many proangiogenic factors, including tyrosine kinases (6, 7). VEGF pathway inhibitors have VEGF, basic fibroblast-derived growth factor (bFGF), and shown efficacy in diverse tumor types, generally when used others, are expressed during tumor angiogenesis by tumor, in combination with chemotherapy. However, these inhi- stromal, and infiltrating myeloid cells (1–4). Identification bitors are potentially associated with acquired resistance to of angiogenic regulatory pathways has led to the clinical treatment due, in part, to induction of other angiogenic pathways (8, 9), and thus there is a need to develop therapeutics directed at novel targets of vascular growth Authors' Affiliations: 1Sarah Cannon Research Institute, Nashville, Ten- and maturation (4, 10). nessee; 2Pinnacle Oncology Hematology, Scottsdale, Arizona; 3Duke Activin receptor–like kinase-1 (ALK1), the ACVRL1 gene University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina; 4Huntsman Cancer Institute, Salt Lake City, Utah; and 5Acceleron Pharma, Cambridge, product, is a type I receptor in the transforming growth Massachusetts factor-b (TGFb) superfamily with high affinity for BMP9 Note: Supplementary data for this article are available at Clinical Cancer and BMP10 (11). Multiple lines of evidence implicate the Research Online (http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/). BMP9/BMP10/ALK1 pathway as a key regulator of angio- Corresponding Author: Matthew L. Sherman, Acceleron Pharma, 128 genesis. ALK1-null mice die embryonically due to abnormal Sidney Street, Cambridge, MA 02139. Phone: 617-649-9282; Fax: 617- vascular development (12, 13), whereas heterozygous loss- 547-1043; E-mail: [email protected] of-function mutations in ALK1 cause vascular dysplasia in doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-13-1840 humans (hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia type 2, Ó2013 American Association for Cancer Research. HHT-2) and mice (14–16). ALK1 expression is normally www.aacrjournals.org OF1 Downloaded from clincancerres.aacrjournals.org on September 27, 2021. © 2013 American Association for Cancer Research. Published OnlineFirst October 30, 2013; DOI: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-13-1840 Bendell et al. orthotopic tumor model (27). Although dalantercept and Translational Relevance RAP-041 do not bind VEGF or bFGF (27), RAP-041 can Novel targets for antiangiogenic therapy could pro- block the angiogenic activity of these proangiogenic factors vide treatment alternatives in patients whose tumors in multiple model systems (24, 27). The distinct mecha- are unresponsive to approved agents such as VEGF nism of action for dalantercept compared with inhibitors of pathway inhibitors. An emerging target is the pathway the VEGF pathway may create therapeutic opportunities for by which bone morphogenetic protein-9 (BMP9) and dalantercept either in combination with VEGF pathway BMP10 activate the type I receptor activin receptor–like inhibitors or in patients whose tumors are unresponsive kinase-1 (ALK1) in neovascular endothelium during to VEGF inhibition. Here, we report the results of a first-in- tumor growth. The present article describes the phase human, open-label, phase I study assessing the safety, I clinical evaluation of dalantercept, an ALK1 receptor tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and fusion protein that inhibits BMP9/BMP10/ALK1 signal- antitumor activity of dalantercept in patients with advanced ing, in adults with a variety of advanced solid tumors. solid tumors. Consistent with its unique mechanism of action, dalan- tercept exhibited a safety profile distinct from that of Materials and Methods VEGF pathway inhibitors. Dalantercept displayed mul- Eligibility criteria tiple signs of antitumor activity, including a partial This study (NCT00996957) was approved by local insti- response, long-term stable disease, correlative pharma- tutional review boards and conducted in accordance with codynamic activity as assessed by exploratory functional national and local regulations. Written informed consent imaging, and occurrence of a marker (telangiectasia) was obtained before initiation of study-related procedures. supportive of the mechanism of dalantercept action. Eligible patients were men and nonpregnant women at least The BMP9/BMP10/ALK1 pathway is a promising target 18 years of age with a histologically and/or cytologically for antiangiogenic cancer therapy. confirmed diagnosis of metastatic or unresectable advanced solid tumor or relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, for which the disease had progressed despite available standard therapies or for which no standard therapy existed. Addi- low in established blood vessels but elevated in neovascular tional eligibility criteria included Eastern Cooperative endothelium during tumor growth (17), and ALK1 has been Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 2 and detected in the vasculature of many human tumor types measurability of solid tumors by Response Evaluation Cri- (18). BMP9 and BMP10 have been identified as functional teria in Solid Tumors (RECISTv1.1). Patients with central activators of ALK1 in endothelial cells (19), and multiple nervous system metastases were excluded unless clinically studies underscore the importance of BMP9 and BMP10 in stable for 3 months after treatment. Patients were also postnatal vascular remodeling (20), particularly in the excluded if they had significant cardiac risk (e.g., history of maturation phase of angiogenesis (21–23). BMP9 expres- myocardial infarction, unstable angina, pulmonary hyper- sion is increased dramatically during malignant progression tension, clinically significant arrhythmia, or congestive in the RIP1-Tag2 transgenic mouse model of multistep cardiac failure within one year of study day 1) and/or an tumorigenesis, and reduced ALK1 gene dosage can inhibit ejection fraction of less than 45%. tumor growth and progression in this model by inhibiting angiogenesis (24). In addition, the BMP9/BMP10/ALK1 Study design pathway regulates development of lymphatic vessels This was a phase I, multicenter, open-label, multiple- (25), with implications for metastatic spread of tumor cells ascending dose study with a dose-expansion component. through lymphatic vasculature (26). Together, these find- During dose-escalation, patients were enrolled sequentially ings indicate that inhibitors of BMP9/BMP10/ALK1 signal- in 7 dose cohorts (0.1, 0.2, 0.4, 0.8, 1.6, 3.2, or 4.8 mg/kg, s. ing may be promising therapeutic candidates for treatment c.; 3–6 patients per cohort). Preclinical studies indicated of cancer and related diseases. that dalantercept was well-absorbed after subcutaneous Dalantercept (previously known as ACE-041) is a soluble administration and was associated with a prolonged elim- receptor fusion protein consisting of the extracellular ination half-life, supporting administration every 3 weeks.