Molecular Profiling in Tissue Samples From Patients With Cancer Who Are Exceptional Responders to Treatment

Running, not enrolling

Conditions studied: Malignant Neoplasm

In brief

This pilot research trial studies molecular profiling in tissue samples from patients with cancer who got better with treatment that didn't work for most other patients with the same disease. Studying samples of tissue from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors learn more about changes that occur in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and identify biomarkers related to how well patients respond to treatment.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT02243592

Run by

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

People needed

170

Starts

2014-09-24

Expected to finish

2027-04-30

Last updated by the study team

2026-04-17

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Documented exceptional response, defined as patients meeting the following criteria:
• Complete response to a regimen in which complete response is expected in < 10% of similarly treated patients
• Partial response (PR) > 6 months in a regimen in which PRs > 6 months are expected in < 10% of patients with similar disease treated with same or similar regimen
• Complete response (CR) or PR of unusual duration, such that the internal review committee considers it to be an exceptional response; examples below:
• PR of duration > 3 x the median expected PR duration (in cases where PR is expected in > 10% of patients with the same disease treated with the same regimen)
• CR or duration > 3 x the median expected CR duration (in cases where CR may be seen in > 10% of patients with same disease treated with same regimen)
• The observed duration of CR (or PR) is longer than expected for 90% of patients with same disease treated with same regimen
• Note: it is not required that the patient be enrolled on a clinical trial when the exceptional response was observed
• Reports of radiologic scans or other evidence documenting response will be submitted for review; cases where response is not assessable (e.g. adjuvant treatment) will not be eligible because the outcome can not be attributed to a specific treatment
• Treatment history must be available, for prior treatment and for the drug to which the exceptional response occurred
• Patient must meet consent criteria; this requires: (i) current exceptional responder (ER) consent by a living participant not lost to follow-up, (ii) prior consent for future research by a participant not known to be deceased, but lost to follow-up, or (iii) if patient is deceased and did not decline to participate in research at the time of tissue removal for any tissue that would be used in this study, then no consent is required
• Tumor sample available that meets study requirements
• Required tumor samples MUST exist and be able to be submitted; investigators wishing to submit samples must not have made agreements that would prohibit the free use of data from such samples; the National Cancer Institute (NCI) will provide investigators with a letter for the collaborator amending their existing agreement to allow for the case to be submitted
• Tumor tissue from prior to administration of the drug to which the exceptional response occurred is required; ideally this sample will have been collected just prior to treatment, but other prior tissue will be considered; tissue may be fresh frozen or formalin-fixed paraffin embedded
• Tumor tissue amount must be at least a core biopsy, and meet minimum specimen requirements
• Encouraged: normal tissue sample: (optional): blood or other specimen source for germline sequencing
• The tumor samples and clinical data submitted to the Exceptional Responders Database in database in Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP) will need to have appropriate agreements in place to allow for the submission; the Exceptional Responders Database can accept clinical data and samples from cases enrolled on a Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program (CTEP) sponsored clinical trial and cases that were not enrolled on any clinical trial; if the response occurred on a trial that was not CTEP-sponsored, there are existing agreements between the submitting site and the pharmaceutical company; if existing agreements do not allow for the submission of sample and clinical data, the NCI will provide the investigators with a letter that allows the tissue to be used for the exceptional responders study if signed by the appropriate collaborator; the letter modifies the existing agreement to include the CTEP Intellectual Property (IP) Option language that would allow the case to be submitted to the Exceptional Responders Database; if the existing agreement cannot be modified and the letter cannot be signed, the proposed case will not be accepted; Note: as stated above, the patient does not need to have been enrolled on a clinical trial to be eligible for the exceptional responders study

You may not qualify if…

• Patient's response did not meet criteria for an exceptional response
• Patient's treatment regimen is expected to lead to CR or durable PR in > 10% of patients
• Patient's duration of response is not > 3 x expected median length of response
• Response not evaluable or not able to be attributed to systemic treatment (e.g. adjuvant treatment)
• Patient refused consent for use of tissue for research activities included in the exceptional responders study
• Tumor sample from prior to the exceptional response is not available, or does not meet quality metrics

Where it is running

• Kaiser Permanente-Fresno — Fresno, California, United States
• Kaiser Permanente-Oakland — Oakland, California, United States
• Kaiser Permanente-Richmond — Richmond, California, United States
• UCSF Medical Center-Mission Bay — San Francisco, California, United States
• Kaiser Permanente Medical Center - Santa Clara — Santa Clara, California, United States
• Kaiser Permanente-Santa Rosa — Santa Rosa, California, United States
• Kaiser Permanente-Stockton — Stockton, California, United States
• Kaiser Permanente-Walnut Creek — Walnut Creek, California, United States
• UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital — Aurora, Colorado, United States
• Poudre Valley Hospital — Fort Collins, Colorado, United States
• Greenwich Hospital — Greenwich, Connecticut, United States
• Helen F Graham Cancer Center — Newark, Delaware, United States
• Medical Oncology Hematology Consultants PA — Newark, Delaware, United States
• Sibley Memorial Hospital — Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States
• Emory University Hospital/Winship Cancer Institute — Atlanta, Georgia, United States
• John B Amos Cancer Center — Columbus, Georgia, United States
• South Georgia Medical Center/Pearlman Cancer Center — Valdosta, Georgia, United States
• Saint Alphonsus Cancer Care Center-Boise — Boise, Idaho, United States
• Rush MD Anderson Cancer Center — Chicago, Illinois, United States
• Presence Resurrection Medical Center — Chicago, Illinois, United States
• Cancer Care Specialists of Illinois - Decatur — Decatur, Illinois, United States
• Decatur Memorial Hospital — Decatur, Illinois, United States
• NorthShore University HealthSystem-Evanston Hospital — Evanston, Illinois, United States
• Illinois CancerCare-Peoria — Peoria, Illinois, United States
• City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center — Duarte, California, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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