Clinical trial NCT05148546: Neoadjuvant Study With Combination Immuno-oncology for Primary Clear Cell Renal Cell Cancer
Official title: Prospective, Randomized, Neoadjuvant Phase II Study With Combination Immuno-oncology in Primary Clear Cell Renal Cancer at Risk for Recurrence or Distant Metastases (NESCIO-trial)
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: PHASE2
Conditions: Renal Cell Carcinoma
Keywords: Resectable renal cell carcinoma
Checkpoint inhibition
Immunotherapy
PD-1 inhibitor
CTLA-4 inhibitor
LAG-3 inhibitor
Nivolumab
Ipilimumab
Relatlimab
Neoadjuvant
NESCIO
M21NSC
Checkpoint blockade
Lead sponsor: The Netherlands Cancer Institute
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Bristol-Myers Squibb
First posted: 2021-12-08
Enrollment: 69
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Open-label three-arm randomized phase II trial
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The NESCIO-trial is a multicenter, randomized, open-label, three-arm phase II trial investigating different combinations of neoadjuvant immunotherapy in patients with primary, resectable, intermediate to high-risk, clear-cell renal cell carcinoma. In this trial patients will be randomized 1:1:1 to receive either 2 cycles of nivolumab 360mg every 3 weeks (arm A), 2 cycles of ipilimumab 1 mg/kg + nivolumab 3 mg/kg every 3 weeks (arm B) or 2 cycles of relatlimab 360mg + nivolumab 360mg every 3 weeks (arm C), prior to surgery at week 7.

After 42 patients (14 per arm) have been recruited, an interim analysis will be performed to evaluate the observed efficacy and toxicity within each arm and either allow for early discontinuation of the treatment or continuing recruitment for the second stage. As the primary endpoint, the pathological response (decrease in tumor) will be evaluated. If at most one pathologic response in the primary tumor is observed, the treatment arm will be closed for insufficient activity on the primary tumor. If at least 2 pathologic responses are observed, 9 additional patients will be included to a total of 23 patients per cohort. A maximum of 69 patients will be recruited for this study.

Follow up will start at week 12 with a CT-scan according to the national/center's standard. Patients will be evaluated every 3 months by physical examination and lab testing for up to two years, thereafter according to institutional guidelines up to 5 years following surgery.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Adults at least 18 years of age;
* World Health Organization (WHO) Performance Status 0 or 1;
* Histologically confirmed resectable clear cell RCC (measurable according to RECIST 1.1), that can be biopsied, and no history of distant metastases;
* Intermediate to high risk will be based on clinical TNM and biopsy nuclear grade. These are:

  1. cT1b-cT2a grade 4 cN0 cM0
  2. cT2b grade 3 cN0 cM0
  3. cT3 any grade cN0 cM0
  4. cT4 any grade cN0 cM0
  5. cT any cN1 (fully resectable) cM0
* No other malignancies, except adequately treated and a cancer-related life-expectancy of more than 5 years;
* Patient willing to undergo triple tumor biopsies and extra blood withdrawal during screening and in case of relapse;
* No prior immunotherapy targeting CTLA-4, PD-1 or PD-L1, or LAG-3;
* No immunosuppressive medications within 2 weeks prior start immunotherapy;
* Screening laboratory values must meet the following criteria: WBC ≥ 2.0x109/L, Neutrophils ≥1.5x109/L, Platelets ≥100 x109/L, Hemoglobin ≥5.5 mmol/L, Creatinine ≤1.5x ULN, AST ≤ 1.5 x ULN, ALT ≤ 1.5 x ULN, Bilirubin ≤1.5 X ULN, normal CK and Troponin T, normal LDH;
* Women of childbearing potential must use appropriate method(s) of contraception. They should use an adequate method to avoid pregnancy for 23 weeks (30 days plus the time required for nivolumab to undergo five half-lives) after the last dose of investigational drug;
* Women of childbearing potential must have a negative serum or urine pregnancy test (minimum sensitivity 25 IU/L or equivalent units of HCG) within 24 hours prior to the start of study treatment;
* Women who are not of childbearing potential (i.e., who are postmenopausal), or surgically sterile as well as azoospermic men do not require contraception;
* Patient is capable of understanding and complying with the protocol requirements and has signed the Informed Consent document.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Distantly metastasized RCC;
* Brain metastases (based on symptoms);
* Non-clear cell RCC;
* No measurable lesion according to RECIST 1.1;
* Subjects with any active autoimmune disease or a documented history of autoimmune disease, or history of syndrome that required systemic steroids or immunosuppressive medications, except for subjects with vitiligo or resolved childhood asthma/atopy;
* Prior CTLA-4 or PD-1/PD-L1 or LAG-3 targeting immunotherapy;
* Radiotherapy prior or post-surgery;
* Patients will be excluded if they test positive for hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBV sAg) or hepatitis C virus ribonucleic acid (HCV antibody), indicating acute or chronic infection; if treated and being at least one year free from HCV patients are allowed to participate;
* Patients will be excluded if they have known history of testing positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or known acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS);
* Allergies and Adverse Drug Reactions (like mastocytosis);
* History of severe hypersensitivity reaction to any monoclonal antibody;
* Underlying medical conditions that, in the Investigator's opinion, will make the administration of study drug(s) hazardous or obscure the interpretation of toxicity or adverse events;
* Pregnant or nursing;
* Concurrent medical condition requiring the use of immunosuppressive medications, or immunosuppressive doses of systemic or absorbable topical corticosteroids;
* Use of other investigational drugs before study drug administration 30 days and 5 half-times before study inclusion.

Relatlimab-specific exclusion Criteria:

* Participants with history of myocarditis, regardless of etiology;
* Troponin T (TnT) \> 2 × institutional ULN. Participants with TnT levels between \> 1 to 2 × ULN will be permitted if a repeat levels within 24 hours are ≤ 1 ULN. If TnT levels are between \>1 to 2 × ULN within 24 hours, the participant may undergo a cardiac consultation and be considered for treatment, following cardiologist recommendation. When repeat levels within 24 hours are not available, a repeat test should be conducted as soon as possible. If TnT repeat levels beyond 24 hours are \< 2 × ULN, the participant may undergo a cardiac consultation and be considered for treatment, following cardiologist recommendation. Notification of the decision to enroll the participant following cardiologist recommendation has to be made to the BMS Medical Monitor or designee.
* Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) assessment with documented LVEF \< 50% by either transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) or multigated acquisition (MUGA) scan (TTE preferred test) within 6 months prior to start of study treatment.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Pathologic response rate
timeFrame: At 6 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Safety, measured by the frequency of immune-related adverse events leading to postponing of surgery for >2 weeks
timeFrame: At 8 weeks
measure: Objective response rate
timeFrame: At 6 weeks
measure: Recurrence Free Survival (RFS)
timeFrame: Up to 5 years after start of treatment
measure: Event-free Survival (EFS)
timeFrame: Up to 5 years after start of treatment
measure: Rate of distant metastases
timeFrame: Up to 5 years after start of treatment
measure: Rate of local recurrences
timeFrame: Up to 5 years after start of treatment
measure: Surgical morbidity following neoadjuvant immunotherapy
timeFrame: Up to 1 year after start of treatment
measure: Description of associations of TMB, fs/INDELs, HERVE-E, RNA tumor/immune signatures, and surface marker expression with tumor immune infiltrates and response
timeFrame: Up to 5 years after start of treatment
measure: Cell free methylated DNA profiles following neoadjuvant immunotherapy between baseline and surgery
timeFrame: At 6 weeks
measure: Collection of fresh tumor tissue for investigating TIL, scRNA and TCRseq
timeFrame: At 6 weeks
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Amsterdam
country: Netherlands
facility: Netherlands Cancer Institute
state: NH
city: London
country: United Kingdom
facility: Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
Study officials:
affiliation: Medical oncologist/researcher
name: John Haanen, Prof
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: Urologist/researcher
name: Axel Bex, Prof
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: