Pembrolizumab in Treating Patients With Rare Tumors That Cannot Be Removed by Surgery or Are Metastatic

Running, not enrolling · Phase 2

Conditions studied: Advanced Malignant Solid Neoplasm, Carcinoma of Unknown Primary, Metastatic Adrenal Gland Pheochromocytoma, Metastatic Kidney Medullary Carcinoma, Metastatic Malignant Germ Cell Tumor, Metastatic Malignant Solid Neoplasm, Metastatic Paraganglioma, Metastatic Penile Carcinoma, Metastatic Skin Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Small Cell Carcinoma, Stage III Adrenal Cortex Carcinoma AJCC v7, Stage IV Adrenal Cortex Carcinoma AJCC v7, Stage IV Penile Cancer AJCC v7, Stage IV Renal Cell Cancer AJCC v7, Unresectable Adrenal Gland Pheochromocytoma, Unresectable Paraganglioma, Unresectable Skin Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Unresectable Solid Neoplasm, Vascular Neoplasm

In brief

This phase II trial studies how well pembrolizumab works in treating patients with rare tumors that cannot be removed by surgery or have spread to other parts of the body. Monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may block specific proteins found on white blood cells which may strengthen the immune system and control tumor growth.

Key facts

Study ID: NCT02721732
Run by: M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
People needed: 157
Starts: 2016-08-15
Expected to finish: 2028-12-31
Last updated by the study team: 2026-07-17

Who can join

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

You may qualify if…

Be willing and able to provide written informed consent/assent for the trial
Have measurable disease based on RECIST 1.1 or irRECIST; only cohort 9 and 10 can have evaluable disease (non-measurable lesions); tumor lesions situated in a previously irradiated area are considered measurable if progression has been demonstrated in such lesions; patients may have bone metastatic disease evaluable according to tumor evaluation criteria best suitable and accepted for the tumor type evaluated
Have one of the following advanced (unresectable and/or metastatic) solid tumor indications that has progressed following standard therapies, where standard therapies are available:
Squamous cell carcinoma of the skin
Small cell malignancies of non-pulmonary origin
Adrenocortical carcinoma
Medullary renal cell carcinoma
Carcinoma of unknown primary
Penile carcinoma
Vascular sarcoma
Germ cell tumor
Paraganglioma-pheochromocytoma
Other rare tumors (except those tumor types listed in exclusion)
Have failed prior treatment within 6 months of consent date
Have biopsiable disease; subjects must have at least one lesion amenable to biopsy; tumor lesions used for biopsy should not be lesions used as target lesions; in cohort 9: paraganglioma-pheochromocytoma or cohort 10, where there is prominent bony disease, biopsies may not be possible due to the nature of the disease
Be willing to provide archival tissue; if archival tissue is not available, or a newly obtained core or excisional biopsy of a tumor lesion will be obtained; newly-obtained is defined as a specimen obtained up to 6 weeks (42 days) prior to initiation of treatment on day 1; in cohort 9: paraganglioma-pheochromocytoma or cohort 10, where there is prominent bony disease, biopsies may not be possible due to the nature of the disease
Have a performance status of 0 or 1 on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance scale
Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) >= 1,000/mcL (performed within 28 days of treatment initiation)
Platelets >= 75,000/mcL (performed within 28 days of treatment initiation)
Hemoglobin >= 9 g/dL or >= 5.6 mmol/L without transfusion or erythropoietin (EPO) dependency (within 7 days of assessment) (performed within 28 days of treatment initiation)
Serum creatinine OR measured or calculated creatinine clearance (glomerular filtration rate [GFR] can also be used in place of creatinine or creatinine clearance [CrCl]) =< 1.5 X upper limit of normal (ULN) OR >= 60 mL/min for subject with creatinine levels > 1.5 X institutional ULN (performed within 28 days of treatment initiation)
Serum total bilirubin =< 1.5 X ULN OR direct bilirubin =< ULN for subjects with total bilirubin levels > 1.5 ULN (performed within 28 days of treatment initiation)
Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase [SGOT]) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase [SGPT]) =< 2.5 X ULN OR =< 5 X ULN for subjects with liver metastases (performed within 28 days of treatment initiation)
Albumin > 2.5 mg/dL (performed within 28 days of treatment initiation)
International normalized ratio (INR) or prothrombin time (PT) =< 1.5 X ULN unless subject is receiving anticoagulant therapy as long as PT or partial thromboplastin time (PTT) is within therapeutic range of intended use of anticoagulants (performed within 28 days of treatment initiation)

You may not qualify if…

Is currently participating and receiving study therapy or concurrent chemotherapy, immunotherapy, biologic, or hormonal therapy for cancer treatment at the time of administration of first dose of trial treatment; continuation of hormone replacement therapy is permitted; stable regimens of hormonal therapy i.e. for prostate cancer (e.g. leuprolide, a gonadotrophin releasing hormone [GnRH] agonist), ovarian, or breast cancer are not exclusionary
Has a diagnosis of immunodeficiency or is receiving systemic steroid therapy or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days prior to the first dose of trial treatment
Has a known history of active TB (bacillus tuberculosis)
Hypersensitivity to pembrolizumab or any of its excipients
Has not recovered (i.e., =< grade 1 or at baseline) from adverse events due to a previously administered agent; Note: subjects with =< grade 2 neuropathy are an exception to this criterion and may qualify for the study; Note: if subject received major surgery, they must have recovered adequately from the toxicity and/or complications from the intervention prior to starting therapy
Has a known additional malignancy that is progressing or requires active treatment; exceptions include basal cell carcinoma of the skin or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin that has undergone potentially curative therapy or in situ cervical cancer, and diseases for which the treatment could reasonably include pembrolizumab and are not part of the excluded tumor type list or not eligible for the phase I trial
Has known active central nervous system (CNS) metastases and/or carcinomatous meningitis; subjects with previously treated brain metastases may participate provided they are stable (without evidence of progression by imaging for at least four weeks prior to the first dose of trial treatment and any neurologic symptoms have returned to baseline), have no evidence of new or enlarging brain metastases, and are not using steroids for at least 7 days prior to trial treatment; this exception does not include carcinomatous meningitis which is excluded regardless of clinical stability
Has active autoimmune disease that has required systemic treatment in the past 2 years (i.e. with use of disease modifying agents, corticosteroids or immunosuppressive drugs); replacement therapy (eg., thyroxine, insulin, or physiologic corticosteroid replacement therapy for adrenal or pituitary insufficiency, etc.) is not considered a form of systemic treatment; immunosuppressive corticosteroid doses (> 10 mg prednisone daily or equivalent) within 4 weeks prior to the first dose of pembrolizumab; Note: corticosteroids given within 24 hours of an imaging study for purposes of pre-medication in patients with hypersensitivity to radiologic contrast agents are allowed
Has known history of, or any evidence of active, non-infectious pneumonitis
Has an active infection requiring systemic therapy
Has a history or current evidence of any condition, therapy, or laboratory abnormality that might confound the results of the trial, interfere with the subject's participation for the full duration of the trial, or is not in the best interest of the subject to participate, in the opinion of the treating investigator
Has known psychiatric or substance abuse disorders that would interfere with cooperation with the requirements of the trial
Is pregnant or breastfeeding, or expecting to conceive or father children within the projected duration of the trial, starting with the pre-screening or screening visit through 120 days after the last dose of trial treatment
Has received prior therapy with an anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, or anti-PD-L2 agent
Has a known history of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (HIV 1/2 antibodies)
Has known active hepatitis B (e.g., hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg] reactive) or hepatitis C (e.g., hepatitis C virus [HCV] ribonucleic acid [RNA] [qualitative] is detected)
Has received a live vaccine within 30 days of planned start of study therapy; Note: seasonal influenza vaccines for injection are generally inactivated flu vaccines and are allowed; however intranasal influenza vaccines (e.g., Flu-Mist) are live attenuated vaccines, and are not allowed
Is participating in cohort 10 and has melanoma; non-small cell lung cancer; hepatocellular carcinoma; Merkel cell carcinoma; colon or rectal adenocarcinoma; anal canal squamous cell carcinoma; pancreas adenocarcinoma; esophageal squamous cell carcinoma or adenocarcinoma (including gastroesophageal [GE] junction); biliary tract adenocarcinoma (gallbladder and biliary tree but excluding ampulla of vater cancers); carcinoid tumors; neuroendocrine carcinomas (well or moderately differentiated pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor); estrogen receptor (ER)-positive human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative breast cancer; triple negative breast cancer; ovarian epithelial, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal carcinoma; endometrial carcinoma; cervical squamous cell cancer; vulvar squamous cell carcinoma; small cell lung cancer; mesothelioma (malignant pleural mesothelioma); thyroid cancer (papillary or follicular subtype); salivary gland carcinoma; nasopharyngeal carcinoma; glioblastoma multiforme; leiomyosarcoma; prostate adenocarcinoma; gastric adenocarcinoma; or small bowel malignancy

Where it is running

M D Anderson Cancer Center — Houston, Texas, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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