A phase I/II study of sepantronium bromide (YM155, survivin suppressor) with paclitaxel and carboplatin in patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer

This phase I/II study examined the safety and efficacy of Sepantronium Bromide (S), a small-molecule selective survivin suppressant, administered in combination with carboplatin (C) and paclitaxel (P). Forty-one patients were treated on study. Twenty-two patients received escalating doses of S (3.6–12 mg/m2) and 19 with untreated stage IV non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were treated with the maximum tolerated dose of 10 mg/m2 in combination with standard doses of C (AUC6) and P (200 mg/m2) for six cycles. S was administered as a continuous intravenous infusion (CIVI) over 72 h in 21-day treatment cycles. Study end points included safety and toxic effect, response rate, progression-free and overall survival (PFS and OS), as well as exploratory pharmacodynamic correlates. Treatment with S was well tolerated, and toxic effects were mostly hematological in the phase II study. Two (11%) partial responses were observed with a median PFS of 5.7 months and median OS 16.1 months. Pharmacodynamic analysis did not demonstrate an association with response. The combination of S (10 mg/m2/day 72-h CIVI) administered with C and P every 3 weeks exhibited a favorable safety profile but failed to demonstrate an improvement in response rate in advanced NSCLC. NCT01100931.