Study of Pembrolizumab With or Without Defactinib Following Chemotherapy as a Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Treatment for Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
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ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03727880 |
Recruitment Status :
Recruiting
First Posted : November 1, 2018
Last Update Posted : February 21, 2023
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Condition or disease | Intervention/treatment | Phase |
---|---|---|
Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma | Drug: Pembrolizumab Drug: Defactinib | Phase 2 |
Study Type : | Interventional (Clinical Trial) |
Estimated Enrollment : | 36 participants |
Allocation: | Randomized |
Intervention Model: | Parallel Assignment |
Masking: | None (Open Label) |
Primary Purpose: | Treatment |
Official Title: | A Randomized Phase II Study of Pembrolizumab With or Without Defactinib, a Focal Adhesion Kinase Inhibitor Following Chemotherapy as a Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Treatment for Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) |
Actual Study Start Date : | June 4, 2019 |
Estimated Primary Completion Date : | December 2023 |
Estimated Study Completion Date : | July 2024 |

Arm | Intervention/treatment |
---|---|
Experimental: Arm A - Pembrolizumab and Defactinib |
Drug: Pembrolizumab
Following standard of care neoadjuvant chemotherapy, subjects will receive two doses of pembrolizumab (200mg) IV 3 weeks apart prior to surgery. After surgery, subjects will receive adjuvant standard of care chemotherapy. Following adjuvant chemotherapy, subjects will receive 8 doses of pembrolizumab (200mg) IV 3 weeks apart.
Other Names:
Drug: Defactinib Following 2 cycles of standard of care neoadjuvant chemotherapy, subjects will receive 400 mg defactinib twice a day up until 2 days preceding their surgery (approximately 6 weeks) during the immunotherapy cycles with pembrolizumab. After surgery, subjects will receive adjuvant standard of care chemotherapy. Following adjuvant chemotherapy, subjects will receive 400mg defactinib twice a day for 24 weeks. |
Experimental: Arm B - Pembrolizumab |
Drug: Pembrolizumab
Following standard of care neoadjuvant chemotherapy, subjects will receive two doses of pembrolizumab (200mg) IV 3 weeks apart prior to surgery. After surgery, subjects will receive adjuvant standard of care chemotherapy. Following adjuvant chemotherapy, subjects will receive 8 doses of pembrolizumab (200mg) IV 3 weeks apart.
Other Names:
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- Pathologic complete response (pCR) rate [ Time Frame: 4 years ]Percent of subjects with a pathologic complete response (pCR) per the tumor regression grade scores established by the College of American Pathologist: Grade 0= complete response (no viable cancer cells), Grade 1= near complete response (single cells or rare small groups of cancer cells), Grade 2= partial response (residual tumor with evidence of regression), or Grade 3= no response (extensive residual tumor with no evidence of regression).
- Overall survival (OS) [ Time Frame: 4 years ]Number of months until death
- Disease free survival (DFS) [ Time Frame: 4 years ]Number of months until disease recurrence
- Number of participants experiencing study drug-related toxicities [ Time Frame: 4 years ]Number of participants experiencing drug-related adverse events as defined by CTCAE v5.0

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Ages Eligible for Study: | 18 Years to 100 Years (Adult, Older Adult) |
Sexes Eligible for Study: | All |
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | No |
Inclusion Criteria:
- Age ≥18 years.
- Has pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
- Has resectable disease at the time of diagnosis
- Has not received any systemic therapy for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
- Has stage ≤ IIb disease at time of diagnosis and enrollment
- Elevated tumor marker, CA (carbohydrate antigen) 19-9 >200
- ECOG performance status 0 or 1
- Patient must have adequate organ function defined by the study-specified laboratory tests.
- Must use acceptable form of birth control while on study.
- Ability to understand and willingness to sign a written informed consent document.
Exclusion Criteria:
Patients who have received any prior chemotherapy, radiotherapy or investigational agents for pancreatic cancer.
- Patients who have received prior treatment with anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, anti-PD-L2, anti-CTLA-4, or with an agent directed to another stimulatory or co-inhibitory T-cell receptor (e.g., CTLA-4, OX 40, CD137).
- Has received prior therapy with FAK inhibitor.
- Woman who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
- Have received a live vaccine or live-attenuated vaccine within 30 days prior to study drug.
- Is currently or has participated in another investigational study within 4 weeks prior to receiving study drug.
- History or current use of immunosuppressive medications within 7 days prior to study medications.
- Has a known additional malignancy that is progressing or has required active treatment within the past 2 years or that is expected to require active treatment within two years.
- Has active autoimmune disease that has required systemic treatment in the past 2 years.
- Has a history of (non-infectious) pneumonitis/interstitial lung disease or current pneumonitis.
- Has an active infection requiring systemic therapy.
- Infection with HIV or hepatitis B or C.
- Patient with uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, uncontrolled infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements.
- Known allergy or hypersensitivity to the study drugs.
- Received any growth factors including, but not limited to, granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), GM-CSF, erythropoietin, within 14 days of study drug administration.
- Has history of any organ transplant, including corneal transplants.

To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT03727880
Contact: Trish Brothers, RN | 410-614-3644 | GIClinicaltrials@jhmi.edu | |
Contact: Joann Santmyer, RN | 410-614-3644 | GIClinicaltrials@jhmi.edu |
United States, California | |
Samuel Oschin Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai | Recruiting |
Los Angeles, California, United States, 90048 | |
Contact: Arsen Osipov, MD 310-423-6313 Arsen.Osipov@cshs.org | |
United States, Maryland | |
Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center | Recruiting |
Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21231 | |
Contact: Trish Brothers, RN 410-614-3644 GIClinicaltrials@jhmi.edu |
Study Chair: | Lei Zheng, MD | Johns Hopkins Medical Institution |
Responsible Party: | Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT03727880 |
Other Study ID Numbers: |
J18140 IRB00182490 ( Other Identifier: JHMI IRB ) |
First Posted: | November 1, 2018 Key Record Dates |
Last Update Posted: | February 21, 2023 |
Last Verified: | February 2023 |
Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement: | |
Plan to Share IPD: | Undecided |
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product: | Yes |
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product: | No |
Pembrolizumab Defactinib Immunotherapy Anti-PD-1 Antibody PD-L1 Pancreatic cancer Neoadjuvant chemotherapy Adjuvant chemotherapy |
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