Pilot Study of Biomarkers of Response to Immune Checkpoint Blockade in Metastatic Melanoma

January 26, 2026 updated by: University of Wisconsin, Madison
This study uses molecular imaging and novel immune monitoring to identify a biomarker of response for melanoma patients receiving immunotherapy with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy. Prior to treatment, FDG and FLT PET/CT will be obtained, together with blood and tumor biopsies from each patient. A follow-up FDG and FLT PET/CT will be obtained, together with blood and tumor biopsies, 10-12 weeks after starting treatment with anti-PD-1 antibody. Additional tumor biopsies and blood samples for immune monitoring will be obtained 4-6 weeks after starting treatment with anti-PD-1 antibody as well as 16-18 weeks after starting anti-PD-1 treatment for patients still receiving anti-PD-1 antibody at that time.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
5

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Wisconsin
      • Madison, Wisconsin, United States, 53792
        • University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

N/A

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

Up to 4 metastatic melanoma patients will be recruited from the University of Wisconsin (UW) Carbone Cancer Center (CCC) Melanoma Clinic located in the UW-Hospital and Clinics.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Participants must have a metastatic melanoma diagnosis (stage IV) for which treatment with nivolumab or pembrolizumab, either alone or in combination with other therapies, is planned. No additional laboratory testing is needed for the imaging in this study apart from the standard laboratory testing routinely obtained for treatment with nivolumab or pembrolizumab, either alone or in combination with other therapies.
  • Participants must have at least 2 subcutaneous or lymph node melanoma metastases that are 2 cm in greatest diameter and are amenable to being biopsied in clinic without requiring image-guidance.
  • Participants must be able to provide informed consent
  • Women of childbearing potential must be willing to use effective contraception as discussed with their oncologist while participating in this study.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Not able to receive treatment with either nivolumab or pembrolizumab.
  • Women of child-bearing potential must have a negative serum or urine pregnancy test within 7 days of the first study FLT PET/CT and must not be breast feeding for the duration of study participation.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
FLT/PET + biopsy
F-FDG and FLT PET/CT imaging will be obtained prior to anti-cancer treatment and 10-12 weeks after starting treatment with anti-PD-1 antibody.
Other: F-FDG PET/CT
F-FLT PET uses a thymidine analogue that accumulates in proliferating tissue. Proliferating tissue could include malignant lesions or immune cells. In this study, FLT PET/CT will be utilized as a molecular imaging tool to detect immune activation after administration of immune checkpoint blockade with pembrolizumab or nivolumab.
Other Names:
  • 3'-Deoxy-3'-[18F]Fluorothymidine (FLT) PET/CT

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Correlation of baseline of response and antitumor response
Time Frame: Anticipated at one-year after last patient enrolled, around Sept 2019
To correlate baseline and post-treatment molecular imaging biomarkers of response to immunotherapy with anti-PD-1 with antitumor response based on analysis of the FDG-to-FLT PET/CT ratio in melanoma patients
Anticipated at one-year after last patient enrolled, around Sept 2019

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Correlation of in vivo clonally amplified T cells to FDG PET uptake in melanoma tumors
Time Frame: Anticipated at one-year after last patient enrolled, around Sept 2019
To correlate in vivo clonally amplified T cells in blood that traffic to tumor to FDG PET uptake in melanoma tumors following treatment with anti-PD-1
Anticipated at one-year after last patient enrolled, around Sept 2019
To correlate histologic and molecular markers of antitumor response to FLT PET uptake in melanoma tumors following treatment with anti-PD-1
Time Frame: Anticipated at one-year after last patient enrolled, around Sept 2019
To correlate histologic and molecular markers of antitumor response to FLT PET uptake in melanoma tumors following treatment with anti-PD-1
Anticipated at one-year after last patient enrolled, around Sept 2019

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of Wisconsin, Madison

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Cancer Institute (NCI)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Mark Albertini, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
November 2, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 17, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 17, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 22, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 22, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
November 29, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
January 28, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 26, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
July 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 2017-0046 (Other Identifier: Institutional Review Board)
  • P30CA014520 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • A534260 (Other Identifier: UW Madison)
  • SMPH\MEDICINE\HEM-ONC (Other Identifier: UW Madison)
  • Protocol Version 6/19/2019 (Other Identifier: UW Madison)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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