Imexon for Relapsed Follicular and Aggressive Lymphomas

A phase II exploratory trial of imexon in lymphoma is justified by: (1) the observation of clinical activity (partial response to the drug observed in phase I testing in a subject with refractory indolent lymphoma); (2) the finding that imexon prevents the development of human immunoblastic lymphoma in SCID mice; (3) the finding that lymphoma cell lines are killed by readily achievable doses; and (4) translational studies implicating the importance of the redox state of the cancer cell. The dose and schedule chosen (1000 mg/m2 daily X 5 days every 3 weeks) is based on tolerability and subject acceptance in prior AmpliMed phase I studies. The planned correlative studies should help to identify potential biomarkers for response to imexon and provide further insight into potential mechanisms of imexon action hypothesized from results of prior laboratory studies.