Safety Study of a Helper Peptide Vaccine Plus Pembrolizumab

NCT02515227 | Completed Phase 1 Results DMC

• 2 other identifiers: 18174R01CA178846
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 22
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study evaluates whether it is safe to administer a peptide vaccine in combination with pembrolizumab. This study will also evaluate the effects of the combination of the peptide vaccine and pembrolizumab on the immune system. The investigators will monitor these effects by performing tests in the laboratory on participants' blood, a lymph node, and tumor samples.

Conditions

Melanoma

Keywords

peptide; vaccine; Montanide ISA-51; pembrolizumab; PD-1; KEYTRUDA

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Number of Participants With Dose-limiting Toxicities.

  Number of participants with dose-limiting toxicities on treatment with combination of pembrolizumab and 6MHP.

  30 days after the last administration of study drug.

• CD4+ T Cell Responses Detected in the Peripheral Blood or Vaccine-draining Lymph Node (Sentinel Immunized Node).

  Circulating CD4+ T cell responses to 6MHP peptides were assessed using IFN-γ ELISpot assays directly ex vivo for peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and sentinel immunized node (SIN) lymphocytes. For each sample, the following definitions applied: Nvax=number of T cells responding to vaccine peptide; Nneg=number of T cells responding to maximum negative control; Rvax=Nvax/Nneg. For PBMC, a participant was considered to have a T-cell response (Rsp) if all the following were true: (1) Nvax exceeded Nneg by ≥ 20/100,000 CD4+ cells (0.02%), (2) (Nvax-1 SD)≥(Nneg+1 SD), (3) Rvax ≥2×, and (4) Rvax postvaccine ≥2x Rvax prevaccine. Criteria for CD4+ Rsp in a SIN included criterion (1-3). A high durable T cell response (hdRsp) required a 5× increase above baseline in any two or more time points (through day 85), and a durable immune response (dRsp) required only a 2× increase over background. A response in either PBMC or in SIN is considered a response for this endpoint.

  through week 104

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Number of T Cells in the Tumor Microenvironment

  up to day 22

• Level of Th1-dominant Immune Signatures in the Tumor Microenvironment

  up to day 22

• Number of CD8+ T Cell Responses to Defined Melanoma Antigens

  up to week 104

• Amount of IgG Antibody Specific for 6MHP as Measured in the Blood and the Sentinel Immunized Node

  up to week 104

Study Arms (1)

6MHP (6 Melanoma helper peptide) vaccine + Pembrolizumab

EXPERIMENTAL

6MHP (200 mcg each peptide) will be administered intradermally and subcutaneously on days 1, 8, 15, 43, 64, and 85. Pembrolizumab (200 mg) will be administered intravenously every 3 weeks for up to 2 years, beginning on day 1.

Biological: 6MHP; Drug: Pembrolizumab

Interventions

6MHP BIOLOGICAL

6 melanoma helper vaccine comprised of 6 class II MHC-restricted helper peptides

Also known as: 6 melanoma helper peptide vaccine

6MHP (6 Melanoma helper peptide) vaccine + Pembrolizumab

Pembrolizumab DRUG

Humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) specific for PD-1.

Also known as: KEYTRUDA, MK-3475

6MHP (6 Melanoma helper peptide) vaccine + Pembrolizumab

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Subjects with unresectable American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) stage IIIB or stage IIIC melanoma, or stage IV metastatic melanoma that have clinical or radiological evidence of disease. Subjects may have had cutaneous, uveal, mucosal primary melanoma, or an unknown primary melanoma. Staging must be confirmed by cytological or histological examination. Staging of cutaneous melanoma will be based on the revised AJCC staging system
• Ability to provide written informed consent/assent for the trial.
• ≥18 years of age
• A subject may be naïve for immunotherapy agents or have received interferon-alpha, ipilimumab or other cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen (CTLA)-4 antibody, Programmed death-1 (PD-1) antibody (or anti-PD-L1 antibody), interleukin-2, or prior cancer vaccines other than the 6MHP vaccine. Patients who have received a PD-1/PD-L1 antibody may be enrolled in either of the following settings:
• A patient who has experienced progression of melanoma during that therapy or after having completed that therapy,
• A patient who fails to experience an objective clinical response (partial response or complete response by RECIST 1.1 criteria) after either 12 weeks of continuous anti-PD1 antibody or anti-CTLA4/anti-PD1 combination therapy, and is a candidate to receive pembrolizumab therapy
• Measurable disease based on RECIST 1.1.
• Subjects will be required to have radiological studies to define radiologically evident disease. Required studies include:
• Chest CT scan,
• Abdominal and pelvic CT scan, and
• Head CT scan or MRI Positron emission tomography (PET)/CT fusion scan may replace scans of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis.
• Subjects who have metastatic melanoma available for biopsy pretreatment and on day 22 must consent to having those biopsies. These metastases may be in nodes, skin, soft tissue, liver, or other sites that can be accessed safely by needle biopsy, incisional or excisional biopsy, with or without image guidance. The lesions to be biopsied must be specified at study enrollment and not included as target lesions for RECIST calculations. In instances where disease that is accessible to biopsy is limited, archival tissue specimens collected after a subject's last systemic therapy may be used for baseline measures.
• Subjects must have measurable disease in addition to the lesion(s) to be biopsied.
• Subjects who have had brain metastases will be eligible if all of the following are true:
• Each brain metastasis must have been completely removed by surgery or each unresected brain metastasis must have been treated with stereotactic radiosurgery.

You may not qualify if:

• Is currently participating in or has participated in a study of an investigational agent or using an investigational device within 4 weeks of the first dose of treatment.
• Is currently receiving Interferon (e.g. Intron-A®), growth factors (e.g. Procrit®, Aranesp®, Neulasta®), or interleukins (e.g. Proleukin®), or has received these agents within 4 weeks of the first dose of treatment.
• Is currently receiving nitrosureas or has received this therapy within the preceding 6 weeks of first dose of treatment.
• 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 with the following exceptions (which are permitted):
• replacement steroid doses in patients with adrenal or pituitary insufficiency
• Intra-articular steroid injections
• Inhaled steroids (e.g.: Advair®, Flovent®, Azmacort®) at low doses (less than 500 mcg fluticasone per day, or equivalent)
• Topical and nasal corticosteroids
• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
• Has had a prior monoclonal antibody 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 had prior chemotherapy, targeted small molecule therapy, or external beam radiation therapy 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.
• 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 carcinoma in situ of the breast (DCIS or LCIS), basal cell carcinoma of the skin, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, or in situ cervical cancer that has undergone potentially curative therapy.
• Has known active central nervous system (CNS) metastases and/or carcinomatous meningitis.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Craig L Slingluff, Jr: lead
• National Cancer Institute (NCI): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Virginia Cancer Center

Charlottesville, Virginia, 22908, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Melanoma

Interventions

pembrolizumab

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neuroendocrine Tumors; Neuroectodermal Tumors; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms; Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue; Nevi and Melanomas; Skin Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Skin Diseases; Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Craig Slingluff, MD
• Organization: University of Virginia

cls8h@uvahealth.org

434 924-9311

Study Officials

• Craig L. Slingluff, Jr., MD

  University of Virginia

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: No
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: phase 1
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Director, Human Immune Therapy Center

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 30, 2015
• First Posted: August 4, 2015
• Study Start: October 6, 2016
• Primary Completion: March 14, 2020
• Study Completion: March 14, 2020
• Last Updated: August 25, 2023
• Results First Posted: August 25, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-08

Locations

US (1)