MELCHRONO: A Prospective Randomized Study Investigating Chrono-immunotherapy for Advanced Melanoma.

July 30, 2026 updated by: Swiss Cancer Institute

MELCHRONO: A Prospective Randomized Study Investigating Chrono-immunotherapy for Advanced Melanoma. A Phase II Trial.

Melanoma remains a common cancer with rising incidence, and despite significant improvements with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), clinical outcomes remain heterogeneous. Retrospective analyses across multiple tumor types, including melanoma, suggest that earlier daytime administration of ICIs may enhance therapeutic effectiveness, potentially due to circadian modulation of immune function. A pronounced survival benefit has been observed particularly among female patients receiving earlier infusions. This trial prospectively evaluates whether aligning ICI administration with circadian immune activity can improve outcomes in melanoma and support the development of sex-specific optimization of immunotherapy.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

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.

Detailed Description

The introduction of ICIs a decade ago revolutionized the treatment of various malignancies, particularly melanoma. Yet treatment responses are heterogenous and depend on patient characteristics such as sex and age, and tumor characteristics. The relationship between sex and ICI response in melanoma is complex and may be influenced by various factors, including the type of ICI, tumor mutation burden, presence of infiltrating immune cells, microbiome, and concomitant medications affect the immune system's ability to mount antitumor responses. While some retrospective data indicate poorer outcomes for female patients, in other real-world reports female sex is associated with better outcomes. Prospective, sex-stratified clinical studies are necessary to provide a definitive answer and to integrate sex as a critical variable in personalizing melanoma treatment strategies. Temporal variations in antibody responses and anticancer immunity after vaccination have been reported in both humans and mice. Circadian rhythms also remain an important regulator of immune cell activities. The optimal time for inducing adaptive immune responses consistently appears to be situated around or just before behavioral activity; for nocturnal mice this optimal window appears to be the afternoon, while in diurnal humans this may be the early morning. However, the optimal time of day for ICI administration is currently unknown. A retrospective single-center analysis of advanced melanoma patients showed that receiving less than 20% of the ICI infusions after 16h30 was associated with enhanced overall survival. In subgroup analyses, female patients had a significantly longer OS when less than 20% of the treatment was administered after 16h30.

Optimizing the timing of ICI therapy to target the immune system at the time of its highest sensitivity could significantly improve patient outcomes, particularly for female patients, without exposing patients to additional drugs and generating additional toxicity and costs. Given the limitations of retrospective analyses, a prospective randomized trial is essential to obtain results that could potentially change clinical practice.

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.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

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.
108

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • 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

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Switzerland
      • Bellinzona, Switzerland, 6500
        • Ente Ospedaliero cantonale (EOC)
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Cristina Mangas de Arriba, MD
      • Bern, Switzerland, 3010
        • Inselspital, Bern
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Berna Özdemir, MD
        • Contact:
      • Geneva, Switzerland, 1211
        • Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève HUG
      • Lausanne, Switzerland, 1011
        • Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CHUV)
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Sofiya MD Latifyan
      • Münsterlingen, Switzerland, 8596
        • Spital Thurgau (Kantonsspital Münserlingen und Frauenfeld)
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Ioannis Metaxas, MD
        • Contact:
      • Sankt Gallen, Switzerland, 9007
        • HOCH Health Ostschweiz - Kantonsspital St. Gallen
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Tobias Peres, MD
      • Zurich, Switzerland, 8091
        • Universitätsspital Zürich USZ
    • Canton of Fribourg
      • Fribourg, Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland, 1708
        • Hfr Fribourg
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Bianca Gautron Moura, MD

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Written informed consent according to Swiss law and ICH GCP E6 regulations before registration and prior to any trial specific procedures.
  • Histologically confirmed unresectable cutaneous stage III or stage IV melanoma. Note: Participants with central nervous system (CNS) metastases are eligible.
  • Participants with a previously treated other malignancy are eligible, if the risk of the prior malignancy interfering with either safety or efficacy endpoints is very low.
  • Measurable or evaluable disease.
  • Age ≥ 18 years.
  • Patients deemed suitable for ICI therapy based on the local investigator's clinical assessment.
  • ECOG performance status 0-2.
  • Women of childbearing potential must use effective contraception , not be pregnant or lactating and agree not to become pregnant during trial treatment and until 5 months after the last dose of trial treatment. A negative pregnancy test before inclusion into the trial is required for all women of childbearing potential.
  • Men agree not to donate sperm or to father a child during trial treatment and until 5 months after the last dose of trial treatment.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Prior treatment with any systemic anti-cancer therapy; with the exception of prior adjuvant anti-PD-1 or BRAF/MEK inhibitor therapy if the time from last dose to recurrence is more than 6 months.
  • Recent treatment (within 28 days prior to first dose) with any experimental drug.
  • Known history of allogeneic organ transplant.
  • Uveal or mucosal melanoma.
  • Receipt of live attenuated vaccine within 28 days prior to first dose.
  • Any concomitant drugs contraindicated for use with the trial drugs according to the approved product information.
  • Known hypersensitivity to trial drug(s) or to any component of the trial drug(s).
  • Any other serious underlying medical, psychiatric, psychological, familial or geographical condition, which in the judgment of the investigator may interfere with the planned staging, treatment and follow-up, affect participant compliance or place the participant at high risk from treatment-related complications.

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: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
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.
Experimental: ICI Infusions 8-12 h
Participants will be randomized 1:1 to receive standard-of-care ICI therapy in an early (08:00 - 12:00) infusion time window.
Drug: Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Morning administration of ICI per physician's choice, according to local practice:

Nivolumab (Opdivo®) Monotherapy - 240 mg administered intravenously every 2 weeks (Q2W)

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) Monotherapy

- 200 mg administered intravenously every 3 weeks (Q3W)

Ipilimumab (Yervoy®) + Nivolumab (Opdivo®) Combination Therapy

  • Induction Phase:

    • Ipilimumab 3 mg/kg intravenously every 3 weeks (Q3W)
    • Nivolumab 1 mg/kg intravenously every 3 weeks (Q3W)
    • Administered for 4 cycles

  • Maintenance Phase:

    • Nivolumab 240 mg administered intravenously every 2 weeks (Q2W) Nivolumab + Relatlimab Fixed-Dose Combination (Opdualag®) Nivolumab 480 mg and relatlimab 160 mg administered intravenously every 4 weeks (Q4W)
Drug: Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Afternooon administration of ICI per physician's choice, according to local practice:

Nivolumab (Opdivo®) Monotherapy - 240 mg administered intravenously every 2 weeks (Q2W)

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) Monotherapy

- 200 mg administered intravenously every 3 weeks (Q3W)

Ipilimumab (Yervoy®) + Nivolumab (Opdivo®) Combination Therapy

  • Induction Phase:

    • Ipilimumab 3 mg/kg intravenously every 3 weeks (Q3W)
    • Nivolumab 1 mg/kg intravenously every 3 weeks (Q3W)
    • Administered for 4 cycles

  • Maintenance Phase:

    • Nivolumab 240 mg administered intravenously every 2 weeks (Q2W) Nivolumab + Relatlimab Fixed-Dose Combination (Opdualag®) Nivolumab 480 mg and relatlimab 160 mg administered intravenously every 4 weeks (Q4W)
Active Comparator: ICI Infusions 15-18 h
Participants will be randomized 1:1 to receive standard-of-care ICI therapy in a late (15:00 - 18:00) infusion time window.
Drug: Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Morning administration of ICI per physician's choice, according to local practice:

Nivolumab (Opdivo®) Monotherapy - 240 mg administered intravenously every 2 weeks (Q2W)

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) Monotherapy

- 200 mg administered intravenously every 3 weeks (Q3W)

Ipilimumab (Yervoy®) + Nivolumab (Opdivo®) Combination Therapy

  • Induction Phase:

    • Ipilimumab 3 mg/kg intravenously every 3 weeks (Q3W)
    • Nivolumab 1 mg/kg intravenously every 3 weeks (Q3W)
    • Administered for 4 cycles

  • Maintenance Phase:

    • Nivolumab 240 mg administered intravenously every 2 weeks (Q2W) Nivolumab + Relatlimab Fixed-Dose Combination (Opdualag®) Nivolumab 480 mg and relatlimab 160 mg administered intravenously every 4 weeks (Q4W)
Drug: Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Afternooon administration of ICI per physician's choice, according to local practice:

Nivolumab (Opdivo®) Monotherapy - 240 mg administered intravenously every 2 weeks (Q2W)

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda®) Monotherapy

- 200 mg administered intravenously every 3 weeks (Q3W)

Ipilimumab (Yervoy®) + Nivolumab (Opdivo®) Combination Therapy

  • Induction Phase:

    • Ipilimumab 3 mg/kg intravenously every 3 weeks (Q3W)
    • Nivolumab 1 mg/kg intravenously every 3 weeks (Q3W)
    • Administered for 4 cycles

  • Maintenance Phase:

    • Nivolumab 240 mg administered intravenously every 2 weeks (Q2W) Nivolumab + Relatlimab Fixed-Dose Combination (Opdualag®) Nivolumab 480 mg and relatlimab 160 mg administered intravenously every 4 weeks (Q4W)

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
Progression-free survival (PFS)
Time Frame: From randomization to Progressive Desease or death, up to 6 years
Progression-free survival (PFS), defined as time from randomization to progression according to local assessment or death. Participants not experiencing an event will be censored at the date of the last available assessment before initiation of a new anti-cancer treatment, if any.
From randomization to Progressive Desease or death, up to 6 years

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
Overall survival (OS)
Time Frame: From randomization to death, up to 6 year
OS is defined as the time from randomization until death due to any cause. Participants not experiencing an event will be censored at the last date they were known to be alive.
From randomization to death, up to 6 year
Objective response rate (ORR)
Time Frame: At the end of trial treatment, up to 4 years from registration
Objective response rate (ORR) Objective response is defined as any complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) according to local assessment achieved during treatment. Any participant with CR or PR as best observed response during treatment will be considered as a success; otherwise, they will be considered as a failure. Participants without any tumor assessment, or with non-evaluable response (NE) during treatment, will be considered as failures for this endpoint.
At the end of trial treatment, up to 4 years from registration

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.
Swiss Cancer Institute

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.
  • Study Chair: Berna Özdemir, MD PhD, Insel Gruppe AG, University Hospital Bern

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)

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.
September 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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 1, 2030

Study Completion (Estimated)

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 1, 2032

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).
May 1, 2026

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.
May 1, 2026

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.
May 7, 2026

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.
July 31, 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.
July 30, 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, 2026

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.
  • SCI-004_MELCHRONO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

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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