A Phase I Intravesical PPM Therapy for NMIBC

This clinical trial is to determine the safety and effectiveness of an investigational bladder cancer drug named "PLZ4-coated paclitaxel-loaded nanoscale micelle (PPM)." PPM is tiny particles that contain the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel. PLZ4 is a molecule that can possibly guide PPM to specifically target and deliver paclitaxel into and kill bladder cancer cells. In this trial, PPM will be instilled into the bladder cavity to treat bladder cancer that does not invade into the muscle layer of the bladder and that has failed the treatment of another drug BCG. Up to 29 patients will be enrolled into the trial. The main goal of this trial is to determine the dose of PPM for future clinical trials, assess the toxicity and obtain preliminary data regarding its effectiveness.

The goal of this project is to conduct a Phase I clinical trial to determine the recommended Phase II dose (RP2D) of bladder cancer-targeting micelles loaded with a chemotherapeutic drug paclitaxel (PTX). The investigators previously developed a bladder cancer-specific targeting ligand named PLZ4, and a PLZ4-coated PTX-loaded nanoscale micelle (PPM) platform that can specifically deliver the drug load into bladder cancer cells both in vitro and in vivo. This proposed clinical trial is to conduct a first-in-human trial to use PPM for the treatment of non-myoinvasive bladder cancer (NMIBC). This primary objective of the proposed Phase I trial is to determine the recommended Phase II dose (RP2D) of PPM. The secondary objectives are to assess the toxicity, obtain preliminary efficacy information of PPM, and determine systemic absorption after intravesical instillation of PPM. Up to 29 patients with recurrent or refractory NMIBC after a standard first-line intravesical BCG treatment will be recruited. PPM will be given as intravesical instillation once weekly for six weeks. The toxicity will be assessed by the NCI Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5.0. The efficacy will be determined by urine cytology and cystoscopy after finishing treatment. Molecular correlative studies will be performed.