Propranolol Hydrochloride in Treating Patients With Locally Recurrent or Metastatic Solid Tumors That Cannot Be Removed By Surgery

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To determine the feasibility and tolerability of beta-adrenergic blockade in patients with metastatic or locally advanced cancer.

II. To determine the effects of beta-adrenergic blockade on the tumor microenvironment and host immune system via a series of correlative laboratory studies using cancer tumor tissue and peripheral blood mononuclear cells from the study patients.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. Evaluate the effects of beta-adrenergic blockade on progression-free survival and overall survival.

OUTLINE:

Patients receive propranolol hydrochloride orally (PO) twice daily (BID) for 4 months in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up every 3 months for up to 1 year.

Inclusion criteria

• Patients must have histologically-proven locally-recurrent or metastatic solid tumor; the first 10 patients may have cancer of any histology; preference will be given to patients with metastatic ovarian cancer, breast cancer, and malignant melanoma, as these malignancies have been shown to be sensitive to manipulation of the beta-adrenergic receptor; the final twenty-five patients to be accrued must have locally-recurrent or metastatic malignant melanoma that is not surgically resectable. An additional cohort of 10 patients with BCLC stages A to C locally advanced or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that is not surgically resectable will also be enrolled (See appendix for BCLC staging system). Patients with liver transplantation will not be eligible.
• The diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma may be made by one of the following methods:

• Pathologically (histologically or cytologically) proven diagnosis of HCC.
• At least one solid liver lesion or vascular tumor thrombosis (involving portal vein, IVC and/or hepatic vein) > 1 cm with arterial enhancement and delayed washout on multiphasic computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the setting of cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis B or C without cirrhosis.
• For patients whose CURRENT disease is vascular only: Enhancing vascular thrombosis (involving portal vein, IVC and/or hepatic vein) demonstrating early arterial enhancement and delayed washout on multi-phasic CT or MRI, in a patient with known HCC (diagnosed according to criteria in (a) or (b).
• Patients may have had any number of prior systemic therapies; patients need not have exhausted standard therapy for their disease, but must be stable and must not have actively progressing
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status =< 2
• Karnofsky >= 60%
• Life expectancy of greater than 6 months
• Patients (except for the HCC cohort) must have normal organ and marrow function as defined below:
• Leukocytes >= 3,000/mcL
• Absolute neutrophil count >= 1,500/mcL
• Platelets >= 100,000/mcL
• Total bilirubin within normal institutional limits
• Aspartate aminotransferase (AST)(serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase [SGOT])/alanine aminotransferase (ALT)(serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase [SGPT]) =< 2.5 X institutional upper limit of normal
• Creatinine within normal institutional limits OR
• Creatinine clearance >= 60 mL/min/1.73 m^2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal
• Parameters for the HCC cohort:
• leukocytes > or = 3000/mcl
• absolute neutrophil count > or =1000/mcl
• platelets > or = 70,000
• total bilirubin < or = 2mg/dL
• AST/ALT <6 times ULN
• creatinine within normal institutional limits OR
• creatinine clearance > or = 60mL/min/1.73m2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal level
• INR < or = 1.7
• The effects of propranolol on the developing human fetus may be detrimental. For this reason, women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately
• Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document
• Patients with brain metastases may participate in this clinical study provided that symptoms have been controlled with standard therapies and/or appropriate medications; the principal investigator (P.I.) will carefully evaluate the suitability of patient participation when brain metastases are present

Exclusion criteria

• Patients who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 4 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C) prior to entering the study or those who have not recovered from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier
• Patients may not be receiving any other investigational agents
• History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to propranolol
• Uncontrolled hypertension
• Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements
• Patients with significant lung disease, an ejection fraction less than 40%, or a resting heart rate less than 60/min will not be enrolled
• Pregnant women are excluded from this study because propranolol is an agent with the potential for teratogenic or abortifacient effects
• Patients who are currently receiving a beta-blocker for another medical condition will be excluded from this study; patients with extremes of blood pressure (e.g., systolic blood pressure [SBP] > 150 or < 100) may be excluded from participation if the treating physician feels that this medical condition has not been adequately addressed by the patient's primary care physician
• Patients with worsening depression that has not been addressed clinically will be excluded from this study