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We previously reported that inhibition of autophagy significantly augmented the anticancer activity of the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor vorinostat (VOR) through a cathepsin D-mediated mechanism. We thus conducted a first-in-human study to investigate the safety, preliminary efficacy, pharmacokinetics (PK), and pharmacodynamics (PD) of the combination of the autophagy inhibitor hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and VOR in patients with advanced solid tumors. Of 27 patients treated in the study, 24 were considered fully evaluable for study assessments and toxicity. Patients were treated orally with escalating doses of HCQ daily (QD) (d 2 to 21 of a 21-d cycle) in combination with 400 mg VOR QD (d one to 21). Treatment-related adverse events (AE) included grade 1 to 2 nausea, diarrhea, fatigue, weight loss, anemia, and elevated creatinine. Grade 3 fatigue and/or myelosuppression were observed in a …