Neoadjuvant ADT + Darolutamide With Pembrolizumab, Followed by Adjuvant Pembrolizumab in Molecularly Stratified High-Risk Prostate Cancer

June 12, 2026 updated by: Ashutosh Kumar Tewari, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Neoadjuvant ADT and Darolutamide With Pembrolizumab, Followed by Adjuvant Pembrolizumab in NCCN High-risk and Molecularly Stratified Prostate Cancer Patients

This is a single-arm, phase II study of neoadjuvant combination therapy of Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT), [Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (GnRH) agonist Leuprolide], androgen receptor (AR)-antagonist Darolutamide and Pembrolizumab in a stratified high-risk localized prostate cancer cohort, followed by adjuvant treatment with Pembrolizumab (12 cycles) post-radical prostatectomy (RP).

Patients with National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) high-risk non-metastatic prostate cancer (localized or locally advanced) (defined as Gleason ≥8, disease stage >=cT3a, or PSA l >20 ng/mL) will be risk-stratified at a biopsy using Decipher, a commercial standard-of-care diagnostic assay. Patients satisfying all three criteria of high-risk genomic characteristics listed below as per the Decipher grid results will be enrolled in the study:

  1. Decipher Genomic classifier, GC>0.6
  2. AR activity score/AR-output gene signature (ARoS)>11.0
  3. High Luminal B score/ PAM50 subtype signature

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The objectives of this study are to evaluate if the neoadjuvant ADT, Darolutamide and Pembrolizumab treatment in high-risk prostate cancer patients stratified based on their genomic characteristics will lead to minimum residual disease (MRD).

A total of 40 men ≥ 18 years of age with non-metastatic adenocarcinoma of the prostate, having NCCN high risk localized disease, risk stratified at biopsy based on Decipher score, AR activity score and Luminal B score will be enrolled.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

40

Phase

  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

    • New York
      • New York, New York, United States, 10028
        • Recruiting
        • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Ashutosh Tewari, MD
        • Contact:

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

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Male Age ≥ 18 years at the time of consent
  • Subjects must have histopathologically confirmed adenocarcinoma of the prostate
  • Subjects must have unfavorable intermediate and high-risk localized or locally advanced prostate cancer (Gleason score ≥7 (4+3) and absence of distant metastasis or non-regional nodal involvement.
  • Subjects must be risk-stratified at biopsy and their cancer should have all the molecular features given below at baseline.

    1. Decipher Genomic Classifier >0.45 (interpreted from decipher report) and/ or
    2. Luminal B subtype (interpreted from decipher report).
  • The patient must have a performance status of 0-1 as determined by criteria set forward by the eastern cooperative oncology group.
  • Subjects with prior neoadjuvant hormonal therapy are allowed if they meet the following criteria.

    • have completed all treatments ≥ 12, months ago.
    • Recovered from all AEs due to previous therapies.
  • If subject has had a major surgery, he should have recovered from all complications and toxicities prior to enrolling in the study.
  • Adequate organ and marrow function as defined below:

    • Hematological
    • Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥ 1,500/mcL
    • Platelets ≥ 100,000/mcl
    • Hemoglobin (Hb) ≥ 9 g/dL Hepatic
    • total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 mg/dl (except in patients with gilbert syndrome who can have total bilirubin <3.0 mg/dl)
    • Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ≤ 2.5 x ULN
    • Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≤ 2.5 x ULN Renal
    • Creatinine OR Creatinine ≤ 1.5 ULN OR
    • Calculated creatinine clearance Creatinine clearance ≥ 30 ml/min
    • Men must agree to use a condom and not father a child or donate sperm for the duration of the study and for 90 days after completion of therapy. Subject must agree to partner use of an additional contraceptive method when having intercourse with women of childbearing potential (WOCBP).
    • Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent.
    • Subjects who are HBs Ag positive are eligible if they have received HBV anti-viral therapy for at least 4 weeks and have undetectable HBV viral load prior to randomization.

Note: Subjects should remain on anti-viral therapy throughout study intervention and follow local guidelines for HBV anti-viral therapy post completion of study intervention.

  • Hepatitis B screening tests are not required unless:

    • Known history of HBV infection
    • As mandated by local health authority
  • Subjects with a history of HCV infection are eligible if HCV viral load is undetectable at screening.

Note: Subjects must have completed curative anti-viral therapy at least 4 weeks prior to randomization.

  • Hepatitis C screening tests are not required unless:

    • Known history of HCV infection
    • As mandated by local health authority
  • Subjects with a known history of Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are eligible as long as they have an undetectable viral. HIV positive participants must be taking stable ART for ≥ 12 weeks and have an undetectable HIV viral load within 28 days before enrollment. Minor fluctuations up to 200 copies/mL are acceptable.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Subjects with metastatic disease
  • Subjects with Gleason score ≤7 (3+4)
  • Subjects with Biopsy Decipher score ≤0.45.
  • Subjects have had prior hormonal therapy (please see inclusion criteria for exceptions).
  • Subjects have had prior radiation therapy or chemotherapy for prostate cancer.
  • Subjects with active cardiac disease defined as having any of the following within 6 months prior to the start of treatment:

    • myocardial infarction,
    • severe/unstable angina pectoris,
    • congestive heart failure,
    • hospitalization for any cardiac event
  • Subject has active GI disorder that will interfere with absorption of study drug Darolutamide Subject has prior treatment with androgen receptor inhibitors, such as apalutamide, Darolutamide, enzalutamide, abiraterone acetate or other investigational CYP17 inhibitor.
  • Inability to swallow oral medications.
  • Subject has active infection requiring systemic therapy within 7 days of Week 1.
  • Subject has received prior therapy with anti-PD1, anti-PDL1, anti-PDL2 or with other checkpoint inhibitors or T-cell costimulatory/inhibitory agents (e.g., CD137, OX-40, CTLA4).
  • Subject with an active viral Hepatitis B (defined as Hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg] reactive or detectable [qualitative] Hepatitis b virus [HBV] DNA or defined as Hepatitis V virus [HCV] ribonucleic acid [RNA] [qualitative] is detected), known Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection with detectable viral load, or chronic liver disease with a need of treatment.
  • Subject has a known active or known history of TB (Bacillus tuberculosis) or active history of non-infectious pneumonitis.
  • Subject who are immunodeficient or are receiving chronic systemic steroid therapy (in dosing exceeding 10 mg daily of prednisone equivalent) or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days of study intervention. Topical or inhaled steroids are permitted in absence of immunodeficiency or autoimmune disease.
  • Subject have active auto-immune disease that has required systemic therapy (use of disease modifying agents, corticosteroids, or immunosuppressive drugs) in the past 2 years. However, subjects receiving replacement therapy (e.g., insulin, thyroxine, or physiological corticosteroid replacement therapy for adrenal and pituitary insufficiency) are eligible.
  • Has history or current evidence of any condition, therapy that might confound results of the study. - Has known psychiatric, epileptic or substance abuse history or disorder that would interfere with participant's ability to cooperate with the requirements of the study.
  • Subjects with known brain metastases should be excluded from this clinical trial because of their poor prognosis and because they often develop progressive neurologic dysfunction that would confound the evaluation of neurologic and other adverse events.
  • Known history of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to Agent(s) or other agents used in study.

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

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Participants with Prostate Cancer
Neoadjuvant ADT plus AR- antagonist, Darolutamide plus Pembrolizumab (5 cycles) prior to radical prostatectomy (RP) in a stratified high-risk localized prostate cancer cohort, followed by adjuvant treatment with Pembrolizumab (12 cycles) post-RP.
Darolutamide 600 mg (2 tablets of 300 mg) twice daily with food, equivalent to a total daily dose of 1200 mg for 16 weeks prior to RP.
Other Names:
  • Nubeqa
Administered at the dose of 200 mg intravenously, every 3 weeks, for a total of 5 cycles prior to RP (Neoadjuvant phase, study weeks 1, 4, 7, 10, 13 & 16), and every 3 weeks, for a total of 12 cycles post-RP (Adjuvant phase, study weeks, 19, 22, 25, 28, 31, 34, 37, 40 43, 46, 49, & 52). Total Pembrolizumab cycles=17
Other Names:
  • Keytruda
Androgen deprivation, GnRH agonist Leuprolide will be administered at a dose of 22.5 mg SQ (Eligard)/IM Lupron every 12 weeks prior to RP (Study weeks, 1 and 13).
Other Names:
  • Leuprolide

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Proportion of patients who achieve Minimal residual disease (MRD)
Time Frame: at time of surgery (At Week 17)
MRD is defined as residual cancer burden (RCB) ≤0.25cm³ at final pathology, where RCB is calculated by multiplying the residual tumor volume with the tumor cellularity. The proportion of patients who achieve MRD will be collected at the time of surgery.
at time of surgery (At Week 17)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Complete pathological response (pCR)
Time Frame: After Week 17
Complete pathological response (pCR) is defined as the absence of viable tumor in post treatment prostatectomy specimens). pCR is typically determined by examining the radical prostatectomy specimen after surgery.
After Week 17
Proportion of patients who had had their tumor downstaged
Time Frame: at time of surgery (At Week 17)
Proportion of patients who had had their tumor downstaged due to neoadjuvant Pembrolizumab, Darolutamide and ADT at the time of surgery. Downstaging will be determined using MRI and pathology separately.
at time of surgery (At Week 17)
Adverse events assessed by NCI CTCAE (v.5.0).
Time Frame: Week 1 to Week 16, Week 19 to Week 52
Adverse events assessed by NCI CTCAE (v.5.0). Incidence of AEs will be reported for the first cycle of neoadjuvant therapy, for the entire neoadjuvant treatment phase, and for the adjuvant treatment phase.
Week 1 to Week 16, Week 19 to Week 52
Biochemical progression free survival bPES
Time Frame: Week 22 and until 5 years after Week 17
bPFS is defined as the time from baseline to first evidence of biochemical progression based on PSA level or death, whichever occurs first.
Week 22 and until 5 years after Week 17
Metastasis free survival (MFS)
Time Frame: Week 17 and until 5 years after Week 17
Metastasis free survival (MFS) defined as time from enrollment to detection of metastasis or death, whichever occurs first.
Week 17 and until 5 years after Week 17
Tumor Volumes
Time Frame: Week 0 to Week 17
Median tumor volumes assessed by MRI at baseline and before surgery (and the corresponding change in median tumor volume from baseline to before surgery).
Week 0 to Week 17
Immunological responses in blood
Time Frame: Week 0 to Week 52
A broad immunophenotyping panel will be used to define various immune subsets and their functional states, in pre-treatment and longitudinally collected whole blood samples. Longitudinally collected serum/plasma samples will be analyzed using Olink multiplex assay platform.
Week 0 to Week 52
Whole exome-sequencing (WES)
Time Frame: Week 0 to Week 17
Transcriptomic and genomic changes in tissues - Whole exome-sequencing (WES) will be performed for characterization of the mutational landscape including neoantigens and differentially expressed genes and gene signatures.
Week 0 to Week 17
RNA sequencing (RNA-seq)
Time Frame: Week 0 to Week 17
Transcriptomic and genomic changes in tissues - RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) will be performed for characterization of the mutational landscape including neoantigens and differentially expressed genes and gene signatures.
Week 0 to Week 17

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Collaborators

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Ashutosh K Tewari, MD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
  • Principal Investigator: Dimple Chakravarty, PhD, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

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 (Estimated)

May 21, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

May 2, 2031

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 10, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 10, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

June 18, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 16, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 12, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY-23-01400

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data that underlie the results reported in this article, after deidentification (text, tables, figures, and appendices).

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Investigators whose proposed use of the data has been approved by an independent review committee ('learned intermediary') identified for this purpose.

For individual participant data meta-analysis.

Proposals may be submitted up to 36 months following article publication. After 36 months the data will be available in ISMMS data warehouse but without investigator support other than deposited metadata. Information regarding submitting proposals and accessing data may be found at (Link to be determined).

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

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