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Alkylating agents

Pembrolizumab + Chemotherapy for Bladder and Prostate Cancer

Phase 1
Waitlist Available
Led By Arnold Chin
Research Sponsored by Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
Eligibility Criteria Checklist
Specific guidelines that determine who can or cannot participate in a clinical trial
Must have
Be older than 18 years old
Timeline
Screening 3 weeks
Treatment Varies
Follow Up up to 3 years
Awards & highlights
No Placebo-Only Group

Summary

This trial is testing pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy to treat small cell/neuroendocrine cancers of the urothelium or prostate.

Who is the study for?
This trial is for adults with advanced small cell/neuroendocrine cancers of the bladder, urethra, or prostate. Participants must have adequate organ function and no recent blood transfusions. They should not have had certain cancer treatments recently and agree to use contraception. Exclusions include active autoimmune disease, known psychiatric disorders that affect participation, recent other cancer therapies, severe allergies to trial drugs, active infections like HIV or hepatitis B/C, pregnant or breastfeeding women.
What is being tested?
The study tests pembrolizumab (an immune system booster) combined with chemotherapy drugs cisplatin, carboplatin, docetaxel, and etoposide in patients with specific urothelial/prostate cancers. The goal is to see if this combination is more effective than current treatments at stopping cancer growth by killing tumor cells or preventing them from dividing and spreading.
What are the potential side effects?
Possible side effects include reactions related to the immune system affecting various organs (like inflammation), fatigue from treatment-related anemia (low red blood cell count), nausea/vomiting due to chemotherapy's effect on the stomach lining; hair loss from damage to hair follicles; kidney/liver function changes due to drug metabolism; increased risk of infection as a result of lowered white blood cell counts.

Timeline

Screening ~ 3 weeks
Treatment ~ Varies
Follow Up ~up to 3 years
This trial's timeline: 3 weeks for screening, Varies for treatment, and up to 3 years for reporting.

Treatment Details

Study Objectives

Study objectives can provide a clearer picture of what you can expect from a treatment.
Primary study objectives
Durable response rate (DRR) (Cohorts 1 and 2)
Duration of response (DOR) per RECIST 1.1 (Cohorts 1 and 2)
Overall response rate (ORR) per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) 1.1 (Cohorts 1 and 2)
+3 more

Side effects data

From 2024 Phase 3 trial • 804 Patients • NCT03040999
64%
Radiation skin injury
63%
Stomatitis
58%
Anaemia
56%
Nausea
48%
Dry mouth
45%
Constipation
45%
Weight decreased
44%
Dysphagia
42%
Neutrophil count decreased
33%
Dysgeusia
33%
Vomiting
32%
Fatigue
31%
White blood cell count decreased
28%
Hypomagnesaemia
26%
Decreased appetite
25%
Hypothyroidism
25%
Hypokalaemia
24%
Lymphocyte count decreased
24%
Platelet count decreased
23%
Oropharyngeal pain
23%
Blood creatinine increased
22%
Diarrhoea
22%
Odynophagia
20%
Hypoacusis
20%
Alanine aminotransferase increased
20%
Hyponatraemia
19%
Tinnitus
19%
Oral candidiasis
19%
Asthenia
16%
Pyrexia
16%
Cough
15%
Aspartate aminotransferase increased
15%
Rash
14%
Insomnia
13%
Acute kidney injury
13%
Pharyngeal inflammation
13%
Pruritus
12%
Dysphonia
12%
Gamma-glutamyltransferase increased
11%
Pneumonia
11%
Dehydration
10%
Hyperthyroidism
10%
Hypoalbuminaemia
10%
Hypocalcaemia
10%
Headache
10%
Productive cough
9%
Neck pain
9%
Peripheral sensory neuropathy
8%
Gastrooesophageal reflux disease
8%
Hiccups
8%
Hyperglycaemia
8%
Hyperuricaemia
8%
Dizziness
8%
Hypophosphataemia
7%
Urinary tract infection
7%
Ear pain
7%
Localised oedema
7%
Hyperkalaemia
7%
Erythema
7%
Oral pain
6%
Abdominal pain upper
6%
Arthralgia
6%
Anxiety
6%
Febrile neutropenia
6%
Dyspepsia
6%
Saliva altered
5%
Back pain
5%
Oedema peripheral
5%
Hypertension
5%
Dyspnoea
4%
Nasopharyngitis
4%
Alopecia
4%
Dry skin
3%
Sepsis
3%
Pneumonia aspiration
3%
Trismus
3%
Pneumonitis
3%
Laryngeal oedema
2%
Malnutrition
2%
Pharyngeal haemorrhage
2%
Cellulitis
1%
Septic shock
1%
Clostridium difficile colitis
1%
Systemic infection
1%
Cardiac arrest
1%
Death
1%
Bronchitis
1%
Hepatitis
1%
Immune-mediated hepatitis
1%
Oesophagitis
1%
General physical health deterioration
1%
Hypophagia
1%
Tumour haemorrhage
1%
Cerebrovascular accident
1%
Syncope
1%
Acute respiratory failure
1%
Aspiration
1%
Colitis
1%
Mouth haemorrhage
1%
Hypersensitivity
1%
Acute myocardial infarction
1%
Abscess neck
1%
Device related infection
1%
Stoma site infection
1%
Vascular device infection
1%
Wound infection
1%
Hypercalcaemia
1%
Pulmonary embolism
1%
Respiratory failure
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Study treatment Arm
Placebo + CRT Followed by Placebo
Pembrolizumab + CRT Followed by Pembrolizumab

Awards & Highlights

No Placebo-Only Group
All patients enrolled in this study will receive some form of active treatment.

Trial Design

1Treatment groups
Experimental Treatment
Group I: Treatment (pembrolizumab, platinum-based chemotherapy)Experimental Treatment5 Interventions
Participants receive pembrolizumab IV over 30 minutes on day 1. Courses repeat every 3 weeks for 2 years in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Participants also receive standard of care chemotherapy comprising either etoposide IV on days 1-3 and cisplatin IV or carboplatin IV on day 1 (Cohort 1), or etoposide IV on days 1-3, carboplatin IV on day 1, and docetaxel IV on day 1 (Cohort 2). Treatment repeats every 3 weeks for up to 6 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.
Treatment
First Studied
Drug Approval Stage
How many patients have taken this drug
Cisplatin
2013
Completed Phase 3
~3120
Pembrolizumab
2017
Completed Phase 3
~3150
Carboplatin
2014
Completed Phase 3
~6120
Docetaxel
1995
Completed Phase 4
~6550
Etoposide
2010
Completed Phase 3
~2960

Find a Location

Who is running the clinical trial?

Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer CenterLead Sponsor
370 Previous Clinical Trials
35,179 Total Patients Enrolled
1 Trials studying Bladder Carcinoma
30 Patients Enrolled for Bladder Carcinoma
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLCIndustry Sponsor
4,010 Previous Clinical Trials
5,185,228 Total Patients Enrolled
1 Trials studying Bladder Carcinoma
37 Patients Enrolled for Bladder Carcinoma
Arnold ChinPrincipal InvestigatorUCLA / Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
~2 spots leftby Dec 2025