# ROMAN

Source: https://onco.cc/trials/roman/  
OnCo record `roman` (Trial). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

ROMAN showed that an infusion of avasopasem before each dose of radiotherapy cut severe mouth ulcers during head and neck chemoradiation from about two thirds of patients to about half and shortened them from 18 days to 8, but the effect was smaller than an earlier trial had promised and the FDA asked for another study before approval.

## Summary

ROMAN (NCT03689712; organisation id GTI-4419-301) was a double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial of avasopasem manganese (GC4419), a superoxide dismutase mimetic, in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer receiving 60 to 72 Gy of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (more than 50 Gy to at least two oral mucosal sites) with cisplatin every three weeks or weekly. Patients were randomised 3:2 to avasopasem 90 mg or placebo before each radiotherapy fraction. Severe oral mucositis (WHO grade 3 or 4) was assessed twice weekly during radiotherapy and weekly for two weeks after; the primary endpoint was its cumulative incidence through the end of radiotherapy.

Of 455 patients randomised, 407 (241 avasopasem, 166 placebo) formed the primary analysis population. Severe oral mucositis occurred in 54 percent on avasopasem versus 64 percent on placebo (relative risk 0.84; 95 percent CI 0.71 to 1.00; p = 0.045), and its median duration was 8 versus 18 days (p = 0.002); onset was nominally delayed (median 49 versus 38 days). Grade 4 mucositis incidence and duration were not significantly reduced (27 percent, p = 0.052; 24 percent, p = 0.143). Adverse-event frequencies were comparable, tumour outcomes were maintained at one year, and two-year overall survival was 89 percent (95 percent CI 84 to 93) with avasopasem versus 93 percent (88 to 96) with placebo.

The eClinicalMedicine 2025 report states that the incidence benefit was smaller than the phase 2b trial had predicted, that a contribution of avasopasem to adverse events could not be excluded, and that ROMAN did not give a sufficiently favourable benefit-risk determination for FDA approval; a confirmatory phase 3 was requested. The FDA issued a complete response letter in August 2023, and the drug remains investigational. The registry condition is oral mucositis rather than a cancer, which is why the automated pass never attached the trial to the drug.

## Fields

- Kind: Trial
- Status: mixed
- Last checked: 2026-09-24
- Also known as: GTI-4419-301; Reduction in Oral Mucositis With Avasopasem Manganese
- Registry id: NCT03689712
- Phase: 3
- Setting: Locally advanced, non-metastatic head and neck cancer receiving intensity-modulated radiotherapy plus cisplatin: avasopasem manganese 90 mg versus placebo infused before each radiotherapy fraction, randomised 3:2
- Sponsor: Galera Therapeutics
- Enrolled: 455
- Result: Severe oral mucositis incidence 54% vs 64% (relative risk 0.84, 95% CI 0.71 to 1.00; p = 0.045); median duration 8 vs 18 days (p = 0.002). Primary met, but the FDA issued a complete response letter and asked for a confirmatory trial.
- Outcomes: Severe oral mucositis (WHO grade 3 or 4) incidence through the end of radiotherapy: Avasopasem manganese 90 mg 54% vs Placebo 64%; Median duration of severe oral mucositis: Avasopasem manganese 90 mg 8 days vs Placebo 18 days; Median time to onset of severe oral mucositis: Avasopasem manganese 90 mg 49 days vs Placebo 38 days; Overall survival at 2 years: Avasopasem manganese 90 mg 89% vs Placebo 93%
- Replication: The randomised phase 2b (Anderson, JCO 2020; NCT02508389) had reported a larger effect on the same endpoints; ROMAN confirmed the direction but not the size, and the confirmatory phase 3 the FDA requested has not reported.

## Sources

- ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03689712: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03689712
- eClinicalMedicine 2025: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eclinm.2025.103539

## Connected records

- cancers: [Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma](https://onco.cc/cancers/head-and-neck/)
- technologies: [Radioprotectors and normal-tissue sparing drugs](https://onco.cc/technologies/radioprotectors/)
- drugs: [Avasopasem manganese](https://onco.cc/drugs/avasopasem-manganese/), [Cisplatin](https://onco.cc/drugs/cisplatin/)
- companies: [Galera Therapeutics](https://onco.cc/companies/galera-therapeutics/)
- key papers: [Avasopasem manganese treatment for severe oral mucositis from chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced head and neck cancer: phase 3 randomized controlled trial (ROMAN)](https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-roman-anderson-eclinicalmedicine-2025/)

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