Optimise viewing for

Toggle between patient and health professional views. The patient version is simplified to help people easily find suitable trials, while the professional view provides full detail.

RecruitingLast updated: 25 February 2026

DART: This trial aims to establish whether a drug called Deflexifol is safe and effective in children, adolescents and young adults with recurrent or refractory brain tumoursPhase I Trial of the Safety and Efficacy of Deflexifol for Refractory or Recurrent Paediatric Central Nervous System (CNS) Tumours

Trial purpose

Medical clipboardCancer treatment

Tumor type

Brain and Spinal Cancers Brain and Spinal

Age

People1 - 21

Trial acronym

DART

Clinical summary

Summary

Participants may be eligible for this study if they are older than 12 months and up to 21 years old, and have a recurrent or refractory brain tumour, or a newly diagnosed diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) or diffuse midline glioma (DMG) and have completed radiation therapy.

 

Study details
Participants will receive Deflexifol every 2 weeks for up to approximately one year, if there is ongoing clinical benefit.

Deflexifol will be administered via an injection over 3-5 minutes (bolus), followed by continuous intravenous infusion over 46 hours.

Pharmacokinetics, which means how the drug moves through the body over time, will be measured during the first 4 weeks and safety will be assessed throughout the course of treatment and during follow up visits. Participants will have physical examinations, blood tests, urine tests, echocardiograms, electrocardiogram (ECG), and MRI scans.

The study will test the safety and effectiveness of this new drug in children and adolescents in cases where treatment options are limited.

Conditions

This trial is treating people with recurrent or refractory brain cancer, including central nervous system tumours, ependymomas, diffuse midline gliomas and diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas

Eligibility

Inclusion

1. Written informed consent
2. Patients must be greater than 12 months and less than or equal to 21 years of age at the time of study enrolment
3. Patient must have histologic confirmation of CNS tumour that is refractory or recurrent based on radiologic or tissue diagnosis; and for which there is no known curative therapy or therapy proven to prolong survival with an acceptable quality of life.
4. Patient must have measurable disease as per RAPNO criteria and/or evaluable disease. For patients who have received prior radiation therapy, the irradiated lesion needs to have progressed since cessation of radiotherapy.
5. Karnofsky performance status greater than or equal to 50 for patients above 16 years old;; or Lansky performance status greater than or equal to 50 for patients less than or equal to 16 years old. Patients who are not able to walk due to paralysis, but who are sitting up in a wheelchair, are considered ambulatory for the purpose of performance score assessment
6. Life expectancy of greater than 6 weeks
7. Patients receiving corticosteroids will need to be on a stable, or reducing, dose of steroids for at least one week before enrolment
8. Fully recovered from acute toxic effects of all prior anti-cancer therapy
8a. Must not have received myelosuppressive chemotherapy within 21 days of study entry (42 days if prior nitrosourea or mitomycin-C)
8b. At least 7 days after the last dose of anti-cancer agents not known to be myelosuppressive. For agents that have known adverse events occurring beyond 7 days after last administration, this period must be extended beyond the time during which adverse events are known to occur. The duration of this interval must be discussed with the study chair
8c. At least 42 days after the completion of any type of immunotherapy, e.g. tumour vaccines
8d. At least 21 days after the last dose of a monoclonal antibody, and toxicities related to prior antibody therapy have recovered to less than or equal to grade 1
8e. At least 6 weeks after the completion of radiation therapy (including CSI). If palliative radiotherapy has been administered, then 2 weeks must have lapsed before the patient can commence on this trial, and this lesion cannot be used as the target lesion for assessment of treatment response
8f. 14 days or more from last long-acting haematopoietic growth factors (e.g. pegfilgrastim) or 7 days for short acting growth factor
9. Adequate function in bone marrow, renal and liver. Blood pressure within normal range for age
10. Patient must be or have been previously enrolled in the ZERO Childhood Cancer (ZERO) precision medicine trial or program
11. Female patient of childbearing potential must have a negative serum or urine pregnancy test at screening and prior to the beginning of each cycle. They must agree to use an effective method of contraception during the study period and for six months after treatment discontinuation
12. Fertile male patients must use an effective method of contraception during the study period and for six months after treatment discontinuation

Exclusion

1. Concomitant medications
1a. Patients who are currently receiving another investigational agent are not eligible
1b. Patients who are currently receiving other anti-cancer agents are not eligible
2. Any known Dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPD) deficiency
3. Prior solid organ transplantation
4. Uncontrolled infection
5. Pregnant or breastfeeding

Inclusion

  • You have had treatment, but your cancer has come back (relapsed or recurrent).
  • You have had treatment but your cancer has gotten worse or has not responded to the treatment you have been given.

Exclusion

  • You are currently being treated on a clinical trial.
  • You have certain types of non-cancer medical conditions.
  • You have had certain treatments, surgical procedures or drugs.
Message

Clinical trials have complex eligibility criteria, and other criteria may apply for this trial. Ask your doctor about whether this trial could be right for you.

Participating hospitals

Recruiting hospitals

InformationTell us if you find this trial availability is not accurate.Report inaccuracy

More information

Trial Identifiers

Information on this page is partially produced from ANZCTR *. View further details about this trial on the registry via the links below:

Trial sponsor

Australian and New Zealand Children’s Haematology and Oncology Group (ANZCHOG)

Scientific Title

Phase I Trial of the Safety and Efficacy of Deflexifol for Refractory or Recurrent Paediatric Central Nervous System (CNS) Tumours

Get Support

Peer Connect

You might find it helpful to speak to someone who has 'been there before'. Our Peer Connect program can provide one-on-one phone support from someone who understands what you're going through and has clinical trials experience.

Know more about Peer Connect

Contact cancer support

If you need cancer information and practical support for yourself, a carer, family or friend, contact Cancer Council to speak with an experienced health professional on 13 11 20.

Get support

Multilingual information

Learn more about clinical trials through this collection of resources in languages other than English.

View information