Biomarker-Guided Immunotherapy Discontinuation for Melanoma
Recruiting in Palo Alto (17 mi)
+456 other locations
Overseen byGeoffrey T Gibney
Age: 18+
Sex: Any
Travel: May Be Covered
Time Reimbursement: Varies
Trial Phase: Phase 2
Recruiting
Sponsor: ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group
Must be taking: Anti-PD-1 therapy
Must not be taking: Anticoagulation therapy
Disqualifiers: Brain metastases, Pregnancy, others
No Placebo Group
Prior Safety Data
Breakthrough Therapy
Trial Summary
What is the purpose of this trial?
This trial uses drugs that boost the immune system to fight advanced melanoma that can't be surgically removed. It aims to see if doctors can safely shorten the treatment period by using imaging tests to guide decisions. Pembrolizumab and ipilimumab are immunotherapy drugs used to treat advanced melanoma, with pembrolizumab approved for younger patients and ipilimumab showing positive results in previous studies.
Do I have to stop taking my current medications for the trial?
The trial does not specify if you need to stop taking your current medications, but you must not be on other anti-tumor therapies besides the standard anti-PD-1 regimens. If you are on anticoagulation therapy, you may need to pause it for a biopsy procedure.
What data supports the effectiveness of this drug for melanoma?
Research shows that pembrolizumab works better than ipilimumab for treating advanced melanoma, and nivolumab has shown long-term survival benefits. These drugs, along with others like ipilimumab and nivolumab/ipilimumab combinations, have improved outcomes for melanoma patients, although there are differences in how long patients stay on these treatments.12345
What safety data exists for pembrolizumab and other similar treatments in humans?
Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and similar treatments like ipilimumab (Yervoy) and nivolumab (Opdivo) have been generally well-tolerated in clinical trials for melanoma, with common side effects including fatigue, rash, itching, and diarrhea. Some less common but serious immune-related side effects include inflammation of the lungs (pneumonitis), liver (hepatitis), and intestines (colitis), as well as thyroid problems.678910
How is the drug Nivolumab or Pembrolizumab unique for treating melanoma?
Nivolumab and Pembrolizumab are unique for treating melanoma because they are immune checkpoint inhibitors that help the immune system recognize and attack cancer cells. Pembrolizumab has shown better outcomes compared to ipilimumab and can lead to durable complete remission even after discontinuation, offering hope for long-term survival.124511
Eligibility Criteria
This trial is for adults with unresectable stage IIIB-IV melanoma. Participants must have had a positive response to initial anti-PD-1 therapy, meet specific health criteria (like normal organ function tests), and not be pregnant or breastfeeding. They should not have brain metastases or other conditions that could affect the study's safety or results.Inclusion Criteria
Your platelet count is at least 100,000 per microliter, as measured within the last 4 weeks before joining the study.
My heart function is classified as class 2B or better, despite my history of heart issues or treatments.
Your total bilirubin level should be within the normal range, unless you have a history of Gilbert's syndrome, in which case it can be slightly higher.
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Exclusion Criteria
I am using or willing to use effective birth control during and after the study as required.
I do not have cancer that has spread to my brain.
Women must not be pregnant or breast-feeding due to potential harm to an unborn fetus and possible risk for adverse events in nursing infants with the anti-PD-1 regimens being used. All females of childbearing potential must have a blood test or urine study within 14 days prior to registration to rule out pregnancy. A female of childbearing potential is defined as any woman, regardless of sexual orientation or whether they have undergone tubal ligation, who meets the following criteria: 1) has achieved menarche at some point, 2) has not undergone a hysterectomy or bilateral oophorectomy; or 3) has not been naturally postmenopausal (amenorrhea following cancer therapy does not rule out childbearing potential) for at least 24 consecutive months (i.e., has had menses at any time in the preceding 24 consecutive months)
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Trial Timeline
Screening
Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial
2-4 weeks
Treatment
Participants receive standard of care anti-PD-1 therapy, including regimens with nivolumab, pembrolizumab, and ipilimumab, for up to 52 weeks
52 weeks
Evaluation and Decision
Participants are evaluated using FDG-PET/CT scans and biopsies to determine continuation or discontinuation of therapy
12 months
Follow-up
Participants are monitored for safety and effectiveness after treatment, with follow-up through week 97 and then every 3 months for up to 5 years
5 years
Treatment Details
Interventions
- Ipilimumab (CTLA-4 Inhibitor)
- Nivolumab (PD-1 Inhibitor)
- Pembrolizumab (PD-1 Inhibitor)
Trial OverviewThe PET-Stop Trial is testing if biomarkers from PET/CT imaging can guide when to safely stop immunotherapy in patients with advanced melanoma. It involves drugs like Pembrolizumab, Ipilimumab, Nivolumab, and patient observation to determine the effectiveness of early discontinuation.
Participant Groups
3Treatment groups
Experimental Treatment
Active Control
Group I: Standard of Care (nivolumab, pembrolizumab, ipilimumab)Experimental Treatment3 Interventions
Patients continue their standard of care anti-PD-1 therapy. Treatment may consist of the following regimens: 1) nivolumab IV over 30 minutes Q2W or Q4W; 2) pembrolizumab IV over 30 minutes Q3W or Q6W; 3) nivolumab IV over 30 minutes and ipilimumab IV Q3W for 4 doses followed by nivolumab IV over 30 minutes Q2W or Q4W; or 4) pembrolizumab IV over 30 minutes and ipilimumab IV Q3W for 4 doses followed by pembrolizumab IV over 30 minutes Q3W or Q6W. Treatment continues until 52 weeks from start of standard of care anti-PD-1 therapy in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.
Group II: Arm A (active surveillance)Experimental Treatment1 Intervention
Patients with a negative FDG-PET/CT scan or a positive FDG-PET/CT scan but with a negative biopsy for viable tumor discontinue the anti-PD-1 therapy and undergo active surveillance.
Group III: Arm B (nivolumab, pembrolizumab, ipilimumab)Active Control2 Interventions
Patients with a positive FDG-PET/CT scan and positive biopsy for viable tumor or a positive FDG-PET/CT scan and biopsy not performed continue their standard of care anti-PD-1 therapy for 12 months in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.
Nivolumab is already approved in United States, European Union, Canada, Switzerland for the following indications:
🇺🇸 Approved in United States as Opdivo for:
- Advanced or metastatic gastric cancer
- Gastroesophageal junction cancer
- Esophageal adenocarcinoma
- Melanoma
- Non-small cell lung cancer
- Renal cell carcinoma
- Hodgkin lymphoma
- Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
- Urothelial carcinoma
- Colorectal cancer
- Hepatocellular carcinoma
- Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
🇪🇺 Approved in European Union as Opdivo for:
- Melanoma
- Non-small cell lung cancer
- Renal cell carcinoma
- Hodgkin lymphoma
- Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
- Urothelial carcinoma
- Colorectal cancer
- Gastric cancer
- Gastroesophageal junction cancer
- Esophageal adenocarcinoma
🇨🇦 Approved in Canada as Opdivo for:
- Melanoma
- Non-small cell lung cancer
- Renal cell carcinoma
- Hodgkin lymphoma
- Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
- Urothelial carcinoma
- Colorectal cancer
- Gastric cancer
- Gastroesophageal junction cancer
- Esophageal adenocarcinoma
🇨🇭 Approved in Switzerland as Opdivo for:
- Melanoma
- Non-small cell lung cancer
- Renal cell carcinoma
- Hodgkin lymphoma
- Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
- Urothelial carcinoma
- Colorectal cancer
- Gastric cancer
- Gastroesophageal junction cancer
- Esophageal adenocarcinoma
Find a Clinic Near You
Research Locations NearbySelect from list below to view details:
Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers-BoulderBoulder, CO
Saint Joseph Mercy CantonCanton, MI
Saint Francis Cancer CenterColorado Springs, CO
Cedars Sinai Medical CenterLos Angeles, CA
More Trial Locations
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Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?
ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research GroupLead Sponsor
National Cancer Institute (NCI)Collaborator
References
Metastatic melanoma patient outcomes since introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors in England between 2014 and 2018. [2021]Immune checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) have radically changed outcomes for patients diagnosed with metastatic melanoma globally in the last 10 years, based on evidence of overall survival (OS) benefits generated from international randomised controlled trials (RCTs). Since RCTs do not always reflect real-world prescribing, we interrogated established national databases to track prescribing of CPIs approved for first line treatment of metastatic melanoma patients in England since 2014 and determined patient outcomes associated with OS, as well as treatment-related toxicity. Between April 2014 and March 2018, 5465 melanoma patients were diagnosed and treated with systemic anticancer therapy (SACT), 2322 of which received first-line CPIs. There was good 3-year OS concordance with RCT outcomes for ipilimumab (32%), ipinivo (56%) and nivolumab (51%), but OS was lower than expected for pembrolizumab (40%). Comparing patients prescribed ipinivo with those prescribed pembrolizumab, ipinivo-treated patients were younger (88% vs 49% patients
Pembrolizumab superior to ipilimumab in melanoma. [2017]In the first randomized trial to compare FDA-approved immune checkpoint inhibitors as first-line therapy for patients with advanced melanoma, pembrolizumab yielded significantly better treatment outcomes than ipilimumab.
The cost-effectiveness of nivolumab monotherapy for the treatment of advanced melanoma patients in England. [2020]Nivolumab was the first programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1) immune checkpoint inhibitor to demonstrate long-term survival benefit in a clinical trial setting for advanced melanoma patients.
Outcomes by line of therapy and programmed death ligand 1 expression in patients with advanced melanoma treated with pembrolizumab or ipilimumab in KEYNOTE-006: A randomised clinical trial. [2022]Predictive biomarkers of patients likely to benefit from anti-programmed death 1 inhibitor therapy have clinical relevance. We examined whether line of therapy or tumour programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression affects the efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab, compared with ipilimumab, in advanced melanoma.
Real-world analyses of therapy discontinuation of checkpoint inhibitors in metastatic melanoma patients. [2021]The 'real-world' patient population of metastatic melanoma is not fully represented in clinical trials investigating checkpoint inhibitors. We described therapy discontinuation in an unselected population-based cohort of adults with metastatic melanoma who started therapy with pembrolizumab, nivolumab, or nivolumab/ipilimumab from January 2015 to August 2017. Therapy discontinuation was defined as a gap between doses beyond 120 days, and/or initiation of another cancer therapy. We estimated drug-specific rate ratios for therapy discontinuation adjusted for age, sex, comorbidities, health care use, and past cancer therapies. We included 876 metastatic melanoma patients initiating pembrolizumab (44.3%), nivolumab/ipilimumab (31.2%), and nivolumab (24.5%). At 12 months of follow-up, the probabilities of therapy discontinuation were 49.9% (95% confidence interval, CI 43.6-56.5) for pembrolizumab, 58.8% (95% CI 50.5-67.3) for nivolumab, and 59.2% (95% CI 51.7-66.8) for nivolumab/ipilimumab. Stratified analyses based on prior cancer therapy, brain metastases at baseline, and sex showed similar trends. In multivariable analyses, compared with pembrolizumab, patients starting nivolumab (rate ratio 1.38, 95% CI 1.08-1.77) or nivolumab/ipilimumab (rate ratio 1.30, 95% CI 1.02-1.65) were more likely to discontinue therapy. Our findings indicate frequent discontinuations of checkpoint inhibitors at one year. The lower discontinuation associated with pembrolizumab should be confirmed in further studies.
FDA Approval Summary: Pembrolizumab for the Treatment of Patients with Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma. [2022]On December 18, 2015, the FDA granted regular approval to pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA; Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.) for treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma based on results of two randomized, open-label, active-controlled clinical trials. In trial PN006, 834 patients with ipilimumab-naïve metastatic melanoma were randomized (1:1:1) to pembrolizumab 10 mg/kg i.v. every 2 or 3 weeks until disease progression or ipilimumab 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks for up to four doses. In trial PN002, 540 patients with ipilimumab-refractory metastatic melanoma were randomized (1:1:1) to pembrolizumab 2 or 10 mg/kg i.v. every 3 weeks or to investigator's choice of chemotherapy. In trial PN006, patients randomized to pembrolizumab demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in overall survival compared with ipilimumab [every-2-week arm: hazard ratio (HR) = 0.63; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.47-0.83; P < 0.001; every-3-week arm: HR = 0.69; 95% CI, 0.52-0.90; P = 0.004]. In both trials, patients receiving pembrolizumab demonstrated statistically significant improvements in progression-free survival. The most common (≥2%) immune-mediated adverse reactions in a pooled safety analysis were hypothyroidism, pneumonitis, and hyperthyroidism. Key considerations for approval were determination of pembrolizumab dose and interpretation of tumor response-based endpoints using RECIST or immune-related RECIST. Clin Cancer Res; 23(19); 5661-5. ©2017 AACR.
Pembrolizumab in the management of metastatic melanoma. [2020]Pembrolizumab is a humanized IgG4 anti-PD-1 antibody that plays a major role in the treatment of advanced melanoma. Through blockade of PD-1, it leads to an increase in effector T-cell activity in the tumor microenvironment. Clinical trial outcomes for pembrolizumab in addition to pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and safety of the compound are discussed in this article. Phase I trials have demonstrated safety and efficacy of pembrolizumab in advanced, pretreated melanoma patients. When compared with chemotherapy in a Phase II trial of ipilimumab-refractory patients, those treated with pembrolizumab showed superior progression-free survival. In addition, in the pivotal Phase III trial pembrolizumab improved overall survival compared with ipilimumab in patients naive to immune checkpoint inhibition. Pembrolizumab is well tolerated and has a favorable safety profile. Common adverse events are fatigue, rash, itching and diarrhea. Less frequent immune-related adverse events include hypothyroidism, colitis, hepatitis and pneumonitis.
Association of immune-checkpoint inhibitors and the risk of immune-related colitis among elderly patients with advanced melanoma: real-world evidence from the SEER-Medicare database. [2022]The use of anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (anti-CTLA4) therapy (ipilimumab) and anti-programmed cell-death 1 (anti-PD1) agents (nivolumab and pembrolizumab) in advanced melanoma have been associated with immune-related adverse events (irAEs) including colitis. We aimed to estimate the incidence and the risk of colitis in elderly patients with advanced melanoma treated with anti-CTLA4 and anti-PD1 in the real-world setting.
FDA Approval Summary: Accelerated Approval of Pembrolizumab for Second-Line Treatment of Metastatic Melanoma. [2021]On September 4, 2014, the FDA approved pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA; Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp.) with a recommended dose of 2 mg/kg every 3 weeks by intravenous infusion for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma who have progressed following treatment with ipilimumab and, if BRAF V600 mutation positive, a BRAF inhibitor. Approval was based on demonstration of objective tumor responses with prolonged response durations in 89 patients enrolled in a randomized, multicenter, open-label, dose-finding, and activity-estimating phase 1 trial. The overall response rate (ORR) by blinded independent central review per RECIST v1.1 was 24% (95% confidence interval, 15-34); with 6 months of follow-up, 86% of responses were ongoing. The most common (≥20%) adverse reactions were fatigue, cough, nausea, pruritus, rash, decreased appetite, constipation, arthralgia, and diarrhea. Immune-mediated adverse reactions included pneumonitis, colitis, hepatitis, hypophysitis, and thyroid disorders. The benefits of the observed ORR with prolonged duration of responses outweighed the risks of immune-mediated adverse reactions in this life-threatening disease and represented an improvement over available therapy. Important regulatory issues in this application were role of durability of response in the evaluation of ORR for accelerated approval, reliance on data from a first-in-human trial, and strategies for dose selection. Clin Cancer Res; 23(19); 5666-70. ©2017 AACR.
Comparative cardiotoxicity risk of pembrolizumab versus nivolumab in cancer patients undergoing immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy: A meta-analysis. [2023]Recently, several researchers have reported the incidence of cardiac-related toxicities occurring with nivolumab (Opdivo) and pembrolizumab (Keytruda). There is still a need for balance between oncology treatment efficacy and reduction of cardiotoxicity burden in immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-treated patients. Thus, the primary aim was to determine whether pembrolizumab or nivolumab would present with a greater risk for cardiotoxicity reports.
Durable Complete Response After Discontinuation of Pembrolizumab in Patients With Metastatic Melanoma. [2022]Purpose Pembrolizumab provides durable antitumor activity in metastatic melanoma, including complete response (CR) in about 15% of patients. Data are limited on potential predictors of CR and patient disposition after pembrolizumab discontinuation after CR. We describe baseline characteristics and long-term follow-up in patients who experienced CR with pembrolizumab in the KEYNOTE-001 study ( ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01295827). Patients and Methods Patients with ipilimumab-naive or -treated advanced/metastatic melanoma received one of three dose regimens of pembrolizumab. Eligible patients who received pembrolizumab for ≥ 6 months and at least two treatments beyond confirmed CR could discontinue therapy. Response was assessed every 12 weeks by central Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1. For this analysis, CR was defined per investigator assessment, immune-related response criteria, and potential predictors of CR were evaluated using univariate and multivariate analyses. Results Of 655 treated patients, 105 (16.0%) achieved CR after median follow-up of 43 months. At data cutoff, 92 patients (87.6%) had CR, with median follow-up of 30 months from first CR. Fourteen (13.3%) patients continued to receive treatment for a median of ≥ 40 months. Pembrolizumab was discontinued by 91 patients (86.7%), including 67 (63.8%) who proceeded to observation without additional anticancer therapy. The 24-month disease-free survival rate from time of CR was 90.9% in all 105 patients with CR and 89.9% in the 67 patients who discontinued pembrolizumab after CR for observation. Tumor size and programmed death-ligand 1 status were among the baseline factors independently associated with CR by univariate analysis. Conclusion Patients with metastatic melanoma can have durable complete remission after discontinuation of pembrolizumab, and the low incidence of relapse after median follow-up of approximately 2 years from discontinuation provides hope for a cure for some patients. The mechanisms underlying durable CR require further investigation.