Vaccination With Flt3L, Radiation, and Poly-ICLC

Completed · Phase 1/Phase 2

Conditions studied: Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Metastatic Breast Cancer, Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

In brief

This is a combination of 4 therapies, three of which are used to treat a single "target site" of your cancer (such as a lymph node or a single tumor), and the 4th is given directly into the blood stream (intravenous or "IV"). 1. Radiation: The target site --lymph node or tumor (the one what will be injected) --will get two small treatments of radiation. Radiation is often times used to shrink and kill tumors in patients with certain types of lymphoma, breast cancer and head and neck cancer, however, the dose of radiation that you will receive --one dose on day one of the clinical trial and one dose on day two --is 10 to 20 time less radiation that you would receive for treatment of these cancers. 2. Flt3L/CDX-301 is an immune cell growth factor, similar to white blood cell growth factors (Neupogen or Neulasta) or red blood cell growth factors (EPO or Epogen) that you may have received to help protect your blood cells previously. Flt3L causes your body to make more immune cells, specifically a type of immune cell called "dendritic cells". 3. Poly-ICLC is an immune cell activating factor. Its function is to turn on the immune cells that have been brought to the tumor by Flt3L. 4. Pembrolizumab is an antibody (a type of human protein) that is being tested to see if it will allow the body's immune system to kill your tumor cells. Pembrolizumab is approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of adult patients with many different types of cancer including head and neck cancer. Pembrolizumab is not FDA approved to treat patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma or metastatic breast cancer, as it has not been effective at treating these cancers when used alone. While most people do not have immediate side effects when this medication is given, it has the ability to cause side effects for.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT03789097

Run by

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

People needed

17

Starts

2019-04-05

Expected to finish

2025-09-22

Last updated by the study team

2026-05-22

Who can join

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

You may qualify if…

• Have pathologically confirmed iNHL, MBC or HNSCC
• Lymphoma subtypes that may be enrolled include small lymphocytic lymphoma

You may not qualify if…

• Is currently participating and receiving an investigational therapy (not standard therapies) or has participated in a study of an investigational agent and received study therapy or used an investigational device within 28 days of the first dose of treatment.
• Any patients that require immediate treatment or cytoreduction are excluded. Note: This is applicable for iNHL, MBC, and HNSCC populations.
• Any patient with transformed lymphoma, or patients with grade 3A follicular lymphoma are excluded.
• MZL patients with gastric MALT lymphomas with disease localized to the stomach are excluded, and any patient with disease in a site where injection is determined to be high risk.
• 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. Patients on chronic steroids (more than 4 weeks at stable dose) equivalent to ≤ 10mg prednisone will not be excluded.
• Hypersensitivity to pembrolizumab, poly-ICLC, Flt3L or any of their excipients.
• Has had a prior anti-cancer monoclonal antibody (mAb) within 28 days prior to study D22 (First dose of pembrolizumab) or who has not recovered (i.e., ≤ Grade 1 or at baseline) from AEs due to agents administered more than 28 days before initiation of in situ vaccine protocol.
• Has had prior chemotherapy, targeted small molecule therapy, or RT therapy within 14 days prior to study D0 or who has not recovered (i.e., ≤ Grade 1 or at baseline) from AEs due to a previously administered agent. Note: Patients with chronic ≤ Grade 2 AEs such as neuropathy are an exception to this criterion and may qualify for the study.
• Has received prior radiotherapy within 2 weeks of start of study treatment. Participants must have recovered from all radiation-related toxicities, not require corticosteroids, and not have had radiation pneumonitis. A 1-week washout is permitted for palliative radiation (≤2 weeks of radiotherapy) to non-CNS disease.
• If patient received major surgery, they must have recovered adequately from the toxicity and/or complications from the intervention prior to starting therapy.
• Has known active central nervous system metastases, leptomeningeal disease and/or lymphomatous meningitis. Patients with previously treated brain metastases may participate provided they are stable (without evidence of progression by imaging for at least 28 days 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 leptomeningeal disease or lymphomatous meningitis, which are excluded regardless of clinical stability.
• Has active autoimmune disease that has required systemic treatment in the past 1 year (i.e. with use of disease modifying agents, corticosteroids or immunosuppressive drugs). Replacement therapy (e.g. thyroxine, insulin, or physiologic corticosteroid replacement therapy for adrenal or pituitary insufficiency, etc.) is not considered a systemic treatment. Patients on chronic steroids (more than 4 weeks at stable dose) equivalent to ≤ 10mg prednisone will not be excluded.
• Has a history of (non-infectious) pneumonitis that required steroids or has current pneumonitis.
• Has an active infection requiring systemic therapy at time of enrollment in trial.
• 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 or anal cancer, prostate cancer on stable dose of hormonal therapy without rising PSA.
• Has a history or current evidence of any condition, therapy, or laboratory abnormality that might confound the results of the trial, interfere with the patient's participation for the full duration of the trial, or is not in the best interest of the patient to participate, in the opinion of the treating Investigator.
• Has known psychiatric or substance abuse disorders that investigator believes 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 (roughly two and a half years after enrollment).
• HIV positive with detectable viral load, or anyone not on stable anti-viral (HAART) regimen.
• Has known active Hepatitis B (e.g., HBV detected by PCR) or active Hepatitis C (e.g., HCV RNA [qualitative] is detected).
• History of allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation or solid organ transplantation.
• Has received a live vaccine within 30 days prior to the first dose of study drug. Examples of live vaccines include, but are not limited to, the following: measles, mumps, rubella, varicella/zoster (chicken pox), yellow fever, rabies, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), and typhoid vaccine. Seasonal influenza vaccines for injection are generally killed virus vaccines and are allowed; however, intranasal influenza vaccines (eg, FluMist®) are live attenuated vaccines and are not allowed.
• Patients with grade 3B follicular lymphoma

Where it is running

• Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai — New York, New York, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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