title: Phase II trial of karenitecin in patients with malignant melanoma: clinical and translational study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A phase II trial of the novel camptothecin karenitecin (BNP1350) was conducted to determine its efficacy and tolerability in patients with metastatic melanoma. Patients were biopsied to determine topoisomerase expression at baseline and response to therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eligible patients had metastatic melanoma with up to three prior chemotherapy and/or any number of immunotherapy regimens. Treatment consisted of an i.v. infusion of 1 mg/m(2) karenitecin daily for 5 days with cycles repeated every 3 weeks. Fine-needle aspiration biopsies were done before treatment and on day 3 to determine topoisomerase expression from patients' tumors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-three patients were evaluable for response and toxicity. Most patients (72%) had stage M1C disease and were previously exposed to chemotherapy (56%). The investigational agent was well tolerated with limited gastrointestinal side effects or fatigue. The major toxicity seen was reversible noncumulative myelosuppression. One patient had a complete response after 11 months of therapy. No partial responses were seen, but 33% of the patients had disease stabilization lasting > or =3 months. Topoisomerase I, IIalpha, and IIbeta expression and localization were determined in a subset of patients. Topoisomerase I expression was highest, followed by topoisomerase IIbeta and topoisomerase IIalpha.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Karenitecin was a well-tolerated investigational agent in this phase II study; side effects were generally mild and mostly hematologic. Karenitecin has significant activity in metastatic melanoma. Melanoma metastases express high levels of topoisomerase I. We did not observe any compensatory increase in topoisomerase II upon treatment with karenitecin.
authors.affiliation: Cutaneous Oncology, Experimental Therapeutics, and Gastrointestinal Oncology Programs, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, Florida 33612, USA. daudai@moffitt.usf.edu
authors.forename: Adil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Daud
authors.forename: Nikola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Valkov
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Centeno
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Derderian
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: Pamela
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Munster
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Urbas
authors.forename: Ronald C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Deconti
authors.forename: Elmer
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Berghorn
authors.forename: Zhenmei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Frederick
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hausheer
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sullivan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000740:Anemia / Q000139:chemically induced; D002166:Camptothecin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004264:DNA Topoisomerases, Type I / Q000378:metabolism; D004250:DNA Topoisomerases, Type II / Q000378:metabolism; D005221:Fatigue / Q000139:chemically induced; D005260:Female; D018922:HL-60 Cells; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009325:Nausea / Q000139:chemically induced; D009503:Neutropenia / Q000139:chemically induced; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013921:Thrombocytopenia / Q000139:chemically induced; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014839:Vomiting / Q000139:chemically induced
chemical_list: C406143:cositecan; D004264:DNA Topoisomerases, Type I; D004250:DNA Topoisomerases, Type II; D002166:Camptothecin