CytRx Corp. has begun a Phase II trial of aldoxorubicin for the treatment of unresectable glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a deadly form of brain cancer. The open-label, multi-center study is designed to investigate the preliminary efficacy and safety of aldoxorubicin in subjects with unresectable GBM whose tumors have progressed following prior treatment with surgery, radiation and temozolomide.

The clinical trial is expected to enroll as many as 28 subjects randomly assigned equally to two groups that will be administered either 350 mg/m² (260 mg/m² doxorubicin equivalent) or 250 mg/m2 (185 mg/m² doxorubicin equivalent) of aldoxorubicin intravenously on Day 1, and every 21 days thereafter until evidence of tumor progression, unacceptable toxicity or withdrawal of consent. Tumor response will be monitored every six weeks by MRI until disease progression occurs. The trial is being conducted at the John Wayne Cancer Center/Sarcoma Oncology Center in Santa Monica, CA, City of Hope in Duarte, CA and the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

The primary objective of the clinical trial is to determine progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), and the principal secondary objective is an evaluation of the safety of aldoxorubicin in the study subjects.

This Phase II study follows positive, confirmatory results reported earlier this year from a preclinical study in which aldoxorubicin demonstrated statistically significant efficacy in the treatment of rapidly growing human brain (glioblastoma) cancer in the brains of animals. The study was replicated by Crown Biosciences, an independent research laboratory.