Mass balance and metabolite profiling of ¹⁴C-guadecitabine in patients with advanced cancer

Purpose The objective of this mass balance trial was to determine the excretory pathways and metabolic profile of the novel anticancer agent guadecitabine in humans after administration of a ¹⁴C-radiolabeled dose of guadecitabine. Experimental design Included patients received at least one cycle of 45 mg/m² guadecitabine subcutaneously as once-daily doses on Days 1 to 5 of a 28-day cycle, of which the 5th (last) dose in the first cycle was spiked with ¹⁴C-radiolabeled guadecitabine. Using different mass spectrometric techniques in combination with off-line liquid scintillation counting, the exposure and excretion of ¹⁴C-guadecitabine and metabolites in the systemic circulation, excreta, and intracellular target site were established. Results Five patients were enrolled in the mass balance trial. ¹⁴C-guadecitabine radioactivity was rapidly and almost exclusively excreted in urine, with an average amount of radioactivity recovered of 90.2%. After uptake in the systemic circulation, guadecitabine was converted into ß-decitabine (active anomer), and from ß-decitabine into the presumably inactive metabolites M1-M5. All identified metabolites in plasma and urine were ß-decitabine related products, suggesting almost complete conversion via cleavage of the phosphodiester bond between ß-decitabine and deoxyguanosine prior to further elimination. ß-decitabine enters the intracellular activation pathway, leading to detectable ß-decitabine-triphosphate and DNA incorporated ß-decitabine levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells, providing confirmation that the drug reaches its DNA target site. Conclusion The metabolic and excretory pathways of guadecitabine and its metabolites were successfully characterized after subcutaneous guadecitabine administration in cancer patients. These data support the clinical evaluation of safety and efficacy of the subcutaneous guadecitabine drug product.