Phase I Study of the Investigational Aurora A Kinase Inhibitor Alisertib plus Rituximab or Rituximab/Vincristine in Relapsed/Refractory Aggressive B-cell Lymphoma

Kevin R. Kelly, Jonathan W. Friedberg, Steven I. Park, Kevin McDonagh, John Hayslip, Daniel Persky, Jia Ruan, Soham Puvvada, Peter Rosen, Swaminathan Padmanabhan Iyer, Alexandra Stefanovic, Steven H. Bernstein, Steven Weitman, Anand Karnad, Gregory Monohan, Ari VanderWalde, Raul Mena, Monika Schmelz, Catherine Spier, Susan Groshen, Karthik Venkatakrishnan, Xiaofei Zhou, Emily Sheldon-Waniga, E. Jane Leonard, Daruka Mahadevan

The aurora A kinase inhibitor alisertib demonstrated single-agent clinical activity and preclinical synergy with vincristine/rituximab in B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (B-NHL). This phase I study aimed to determine the safety and recommended phase II dose (RP2D) of alisertib in combination with rituximab ± vincristine in patients with relapsed/refractory aggressive B-NHL. Patients with relapsed/refractory, diffuse, large, or other aggressive B-NHL received oral alisertib 50 mg BID days 1-7, plus IV rituximab 375 mg/m2 on day 1, for up to eight 21-day cycles (MR). Patients in subsequent cohorts (3+3 design) received increasing doses of alisertib (30 mg starting dose; 10 mg increments) BID days 1-7 plus rituximab and vincristine (1.4 mg/m2 [maximum 2 mg] days 1, 8) for 8 cycles (MRV). Patients benefiting could continue single-agent alisertib beyond 8 cycles. Cell-of-origin and MYC/BCL2 immunohistochemistry was performed on available archival tissue. Forty-five patients participated. The alisertib RP2D for MR was 50 mg BID. For MRV (n = 32) the RP2D was determined as 40 mg BID (1 DLT at 40 mg; 2 DLTs at 50 mg). Drug-related adverse events were reported in 89% of patients, the most common was neutropenia (47%). Seven patients had complete responses (CRs), seven had partial responses (PRs); 9/20 (45%) patients at the MRV RP2D responded (4 CRs, 5 PRs), all with non-germinal center B-cell (GCB) DLBCL. The combination of alisertib 50 mg BID plus rituximab or alisertib 40 mg BID plus rituximab and vincristine was well tolerated and demonstrated activity in non-GCB DLBCL.