Pembrolizumab and GM-CSF in Biliary Cancer

• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02703714
• Recruitment Status: Completed
• First Posted: March 9, 2016
• Results First Posted: January 12, 2022
• Last Update Posted: January 25, 2022
• Sponsor: Robin Kate Kelley
• Collaborators: American Society of Clinical Oncology; Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC; National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Information provided by (Responsible Party): Robin Kate Kelley, University of California, San Francisco

Study Description

Brief Summary:

This is an open label phase II trial to examine efficacy and safety of a novel combination of pembrolizumab plus induction GM-CSF in patients with advanced biliary cancers treated at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

This phase II study will examine the efficacy and safety of the novel combination of pembrolizumab plus induction GM-CSF in advanced biliary cancer patients with the hypotheses that the combination may increase proportion of patients with overall response compared to contemporary historical controls, with acceptable safety.

Condition or disease	Intervention/treatment	Phase
Biliary Cancer	Drug: Pembrolizumab; Drug: Sargramostim	Phase 2

Study Design

• Study Type: Interventional (Clinical Trial)
• Actual Enrollment: 42 participants
• Allocation: N/A
• Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)
• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Official Title: Phase II Trial of Pembrolizumab (MK-3475) With GM-CSF Induction in Advanced Biliary Cancers
• Actual Study Start Date: May 6, 2016
• Actual Primary Completion Date: December 31, 2020
• Actual Study Completion Date: December 31, 2020

Arms and Interventions

Arm	Intervention/treatment
Experimental: Pembrolizumab and GM-CSF; Patients receive pembrolizumab IV over 30 minutes on day 1. Patients also receive sargramostim subcutaneous injection (SC) on days 1-14 of courses 1-2 or 2-3. Treatment repeats every 21 days for up to 2 courses for sargramostim and for up to 35 courses (24 months) for pembrolizumab in the absence of disease or unaccepted toxicity.	Drug: Pembrolizumab; 200 mg given intravenously (IV); Other Names: MK-3475; Keytruda; Drug: Sargramostim; 250 µg given subcutaneously (SC); Other Name: GM-CSF

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures :

1. Overall Response Rate (ORR) [ Time Frame: Up to 2 years ]
   Proportion of subjects with measurable disease at study entry who obtained either a complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) (confirmed + unconfirmed) using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) version 1.1 at any time during the course of treatment.

Secondary Outcome Measures :

1. Proportion of Participants With Treatment-related AEs [ Time Frame: During study treatment and for 30 days after last dose or until start of new treatment (up to 2 years) ]
   Safety events will be summarized based on proportion of total subjects, by preferred term. Only treatment-related >=grade 3 Adverse Events (AE)s will be reported.
2. Proportion of Participants With PD-L1 Positive Status [ Time Frame: Up to 4 years ]
   PD-L1 expression will be measured by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and classified as positive or negative by central laboratory testing (QualTek Laboratories) using pre-specified cut-points; will be reported along with 95% confidence interval (CI)
3. Proportion of Participants With Progression-Free Survival (PFS) at 6 Months [ Time Frame: 6 months after start of study treatment ]
   Proportion of participants with PFS Time from date of first dose of protocol therapy to date of first documented radiographic and/or clinical disease progression per RECIST version 1.1 or death from any cause
4. Median Duration of Response [ Time Frame: Within 4 years after start of study treatment ]
   Time from first documented evidence of CR or PR until the first documented sign of disease progression or death
5. Median Duration of Response Stratified by Sub-type of Biliary Cancer [ Time Frame: Within 4 years after start of study treatment ]
   Time from first documented evidence of CR or PR until the first documented sign of disease progression or death stratified by sub-type of biliary cancer
6. Median Progression Free-Survival (PFS) [ Time Frame: Within 4 years after start of study treatment ]
   Time from date of first dose of protocol therapy to date of first documented radiographic and/or clinical disease progression per RECIST version 1.1 or death from any cause
7. Median PFS Stratified by Sub-type of Biliary Cancer [ Time Frame: Within 4 years after start of study treatment ]
   Time from date of first dose of protocol therapy to date of first documented radiographic and/or clinical disease progression per RECIST version 1.1 or death from any cause stratified by sub-type of biliary cancer
8. Median Overall Survival (OS) [ Time Frame: Within 4 years after start of treatment ]
   Time from first dose of protocol therapy to the date of death due to any cause
9. Median Overall Survival (OS) Stratified by Sub-type of Biliary Cancer [ Time Frame: Within 4 years after start of treatment ]
   Time from first dose of protocol therapy to the date of death due to any cause stratified by sub-type of biliary cancer.

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Sexes Eligible for Study: All
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• Be willing and able to provide written informed consent for the trial.
• Have a performance status of 0 or 1 on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Scale.

• Demonstrate adequate organ function

  • Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) >= 1,000/microliter (mcL)(performed within 28 days of treatment initiation)
  • Platelets >= 60,000/mcL (>= 75,000/mcL in expansion cohort) (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 =< 1.5 X upper limit of normal (ULN) OR measured or calculated creatinine clearance (glomerular filtration rate (GFR) can also be used in place of creatinine or creatinine clearance (CrCl)) >= 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)) =< 5 X ULN (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 prothrombin time (PT) or partial thromboplastin time (PTT) is within therapeutic range of intended use of anticoagulants (performed within 28 days of treatment initiation)
  • Activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) =< 1.5 X ULN unless subject is receiving anticoagulant therapy as long as PT or PTT is within therapeutic range of intended use of anticoagulants (performed within 28 days of treatment initiation)
• Patients with known hepatitis B (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are eligible provided liver function parameters meet laboratory eligibility criteria
• Female subjects of childbearing potential should be willing to use 2 methods of birth control or be surgically sterile, or abstain from heterosexual activity for the course of the study through 120 days after the last dose of study medication
• Male subjects should agree to use an adequate method of contraception starting with the first dose of study therapy through 120 days after the last dose of study therapy.

ADDITIONAL EXPANSION COHORT SUBJECT INCLUSION CRITERIA

• Tumor measurable by RECIST 1.1 including >= 1 target lesion not planned for biopsy
• Presence of >= 1 tumor lesion not included as a RECIST 1.1 target lesion which is assessed by investigator and/or radiologist as likely to be amenable to percutaneous biopsy by punch, computed tomography (CT)-, or ultrasound-guided core needle biopsy for serial sampling on treatment
• Platelet count >= 75,000/mcL
• No contraindication to tumor biopsy at time of study enrollment
• Consent for on-treatment paired biopsies

Exclusion Criteria:

• Is currently participating and receiving study therapy or has participated and received study therapy in a study of an investigational agent, or used an investigational device within 4 weeks of the first dose of treatment.
• Has a diagnosis of immunodeficiency or is receiving systemic steroid therapy for purposes of immunosuppression or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days prior to the first dose of trial treatment.
• Has a known history of active Bacillus Tuberculosis (TB).
• Has a known history of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (HIV 1/2 antibodies).
• Has untreated active Hepatitis B (e.g., HBsAg reactive).

• Has an active infection requiring systemic antibiotic therapy at time of enrollment.

  • Treatment with antibiotic prophylaxis for indwelling biliary stent(s) or peri-procedural antibiotics for uncomplicated biliary stent exchanges is allowed and not an exclusion

• Hypersensitivity to pembrolizumab or any of its excipients.
• Has received treatment with an anti-cancer monoclonal antibody (mAb) within 4 weeks prior to study Day 1 or who has not recovered (i.e., ≤ Grade 1 or at baseline) from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier.
• Has received treatment with chemotherapy, targeted small molecule therapy, or radiation therapy to non-liver sites within 2 weeks prior to study Day 1 or who has not recovered (i.e., ≤ Grade 1 or at baseline) from adverse events due to a previously administered agent administered more than 2 weeks earlier.
• Has had prior chemoembolization, bland embolization, radioembolization, local ablative therapies, radiation to liver tumors, or major surgery such as liver resection within 4 weeks prior to study enrollment or who has not recovered (i.e., ≤ Grade 1 or at baseline) from adverse events due to intervention more than 4 weeks earlier.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 (e.g., thyroxine, insulin, or physiologic corticosteroid replacement therapy for adrenal or pituitary insufficiency, etc.) is not considered a form of systemic treatment.
• Has known history of or any evidence of active, non-infectious pneumonitis.
• Has had prior liver or other organ transplantation.
• 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 received a live vaccine within 30 days of planned start of study therapy.

Contacts and Locations

Locations

United States, California

University of California San Francisco

San Francisco, California, United States, 94158

Sponsors and Collaborators

Robin Kate Kelley

American Society of Clinical Oncology

Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Investigators

• Principal Investigator: R. Kate Kelley, M.D.; University of California, San Francisco

  Study Documents (Full-Text)

Documents provided by Robin Kate Kelley, University of California, San Francisco:

Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan  [PDF] October 1, 2019

More Information

Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):

Keenan BP, McCarthy EE, Ilano A, Yang H, Zhang L, Allaire K, Fan Z, Li T, Lee DS, Sun Y, Cheung A, Luong D, Chang H, Chen B, Marquez J, Sheldon B, Kelley RK, Ye CJ, Fong L. Circulating monocytes associated with anti-PD-1 resistance in human biliary cancer induce T cell paralysis. Cell Rep. 2022 Sep 20;40(12):111384. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111384.

• Responsible Party: Robin Kate Kelley, Associate Professor, University of California, San Francisco
• ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02703714
• Other Study ID Numbers: 154524; NCI-2017-01372 ( Other Identifier: NCI Clinical Trials Reporting Program (CTRP) ); R03CA212877 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract )
• First Posted: March 9, 2016
• Results First Posted: January 12, 2022
• Last Update Posted: January 25, 2022
• Last Verified: January 2022

Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement:

• Plan to Share IPD: No

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product: No

Keywords provided by Robin Kate Kelley, University of California, San Francisco:

Advanced; Locally-advanced; Not eligible for resection; Prior chemotherapy treatment

Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Biliary Tract Neoplasms; Digestive System Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Biliary Tract Diseases; Digestive System Diseases; Pembrolizumab; Sargramostim; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological; Antineoplastic Agents; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Immunologic Factors; Physiological Effects of Drugs