Safety Study of Adjuvant Vaccine to Treat Melanoma Patients

Phase I/Phase II Open Label Study of the TLR3 Agonist Poly-ICLC as an Adjuvant for NY-ESO-1 Protein Vaccination With or Without Montanide ® ISA-51 VG in Patients With High Risk Melanoma in Complete Clinical Remission

The incidence of melanoma is increasing with an estimated incidence of 59,940 cases and an annual death rate of 8110 in 2007. Although patients diagnosed with early stage disease have an excellent clinical outcome, patients diagnosed with advanced or recurrent disease, continue to have a high mortality rate, even with initial optimal surgical resection. Effective adjuvant strategies are needed to increase the time to progression and to decrease the recurrence rate. Immunotherapy has long been recognized as a potential therapy for melanoma; the goal of adjuvant vaccine therapy is to train the endogenous immune system to recognize and target minimal residual disease.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Melanoma
• Intervention / Treatment: Biological: NY-ESO-1 protein; Poly-ICLC; Montanide

Detailed Description

This is a Phase I open label dose escalation study of the TLR3 agonist Poly-ICLC as an adjuvant for NY-ESO-1 protein vaccination in patients with high risk melanoma in clinical complete remission (cCr), followed by a randomized Phase II component in which patients will be randomized to subcutaneous vaccination of NY-ESO-1 protein with Poly-ICLC alone dose TBD (Arm A) or with NY-ESO-1 protein, Poly-ICLC dose TBD and Montanide® ISA-51 VG (Montanide) (Arm B).

Patients with histological confirmed malignant melanoma, AJCC Stages: IIB, IIC, III or IV, who are in complete clinical remission (cCr) but at high risk of disease recurrence, will be eligible for enrollment, regardless of whether antigen expression in the autologous tumor can be demonstrated by either PCR or immunohistochemistry.

Primary Objectives:

• Phase I: To define the safety of subcutaneous vaccination with NY-ESO-1 protein, Montanide and escalating doses of Poly-ICLC.
• Phase II: To evaluate the induction of humoral and T cell (CD4+ and CD8+) immunity to subcutaneous vaccination with NY-ESO-1 protein in combination with Poly-ICLC when given with or without Montanide.

Exploratory analyses:

• Evaluation of primary tumor expression of NY-ESO-1 by IHC or RT-PCR.
• Histologic quantitation of original tumor TILs (tumor infiltrating lymphocytes), CD3+ cells, evaluation of mitotic index and correlation of this data with immunologic response.
• Correlation of NY-ESO-1 specific T cell responses with HLA type
• Investigation of polymorphisms for TLR3 through germline SNP analysis.
• Clinical Outcome (Time to Progression) reported descriptively.
• Skin section analysis of protein/adjuvant treated sites for immune cell infiltration and gene expression analysis

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 34
• Phase: Phase 2; Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10016
      • New York University Langone Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria

1. Histological diagnosis of malignant melanoma, stages IIB-IV in radiologically confirmed cCr without clinical evidence of disease.
2. At least 4 weeks since surgery prior to first dosing of study agent.

3. Laboratory values within the following limits:

   1. Hemoglobin > 10.0 g/dL
   2. Neutrophil count > 1.5 x l09/L
   3. Lymphocyte count > Lower limit of institutional normal
   4. Platelet count > 80 x l09/L
   5. Serum creatinine < 2.0 mg/dL
   6. Serum bilirubin < 2 x upper limit of institutional normal
   7. AST/ALT < 2 x upper limit of institutional normal
4. Patients must have an ECOG performance status of <2 (ECOG criteria published in [67].
5. Life expectancy > 6 months.
6. Age > 18 years.
7. Able and willing to give written informed consent for participation in the trial (see Section 12.2).

Exclusion Criteria

1. Serious illnesses, e.g., serious infections requiring antibiotics.
2. Previous bone marrow or stem cell transplant.
3. History of immunodeficiency disease (such as HIV) or autoimmune disease except vitiligo.
4. Metastatic disease to the central nervous system.
5. Other malignancy within 3 years prior to entry into the study, except for treated early-stage melanoma or non-melanoma skin cancer, or cervical carcinoma in situ.
6. Prior chemotherapy or vaccine therapy.
7. Radiation therapy, biological therapy or surgery within 4 weeks prior to first dose of study agent.
8. Concomitant treatment with systemic corticosteroids greater than physiologic doses. Topical (but not at the proposed vaccination sites) or inhalational steroids are permitted.
9. Participation in any other clinical trial involving another investigational agent within 4 weeks prior to first dose of study agent.
10. Pregnancy or lactation.
11. Women of childbearing potential not using a medically acceptable means of contraception.
12. Psychiatric or addictive disorders that may compromise the ability to give informed consent.
13. Lack of availability of the patient for immunological and clinical follow-up assessment.
14. Children <18 years of age who cannot undergo the leukapheresis procedure, do not meet the disease staging and/or the size criteria for frequent blood donations

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Dose-escalation component; Phase I represents the dose-escalation component with Poly-ICLC given in combination with NY-ESO-1 and Montanide in an open-label fashion. The dose of Poly-ICLC will be increased stepwise from 0.35mg to 1.4mg while the dose of NY-ESO-1 antigen and Montanide will be held constant.	Biological: NY-ESO-1 protein; Poly-ICLC; Montanide; Phase I represents the dose-escalation component with Poly-ICLC given in combination with NY-ESO-1 and Montanide in an open-label fashion. The dose of Poly-ICLC will be increased stepwise from 0.35mg to 1.4mg while the dose of NY-ESO-1 antigen (100µg) and Montanide (1.1mL) will be held constant. Phase II: The doses of NY-ESO-1 and Montanide will remain the same as in Phase I; the highest tolerated Phase I dose of Poly-ICLC will become the Phase II Poly-ICLC dose. In Phase II, patients will be randomized to a subcutaneous vaccination of NY-ESO-1 protein with Poly-ICLC alone dose TBD (Arm A) or with NY-ESO-1 protein, Poly-ICLC dose TBD and Montanide (Arm B).; Other Names: Cancer-Testis (CT) antigen expression: NY-ESO-1; Poly ICLC: carboxymethylcellulose, polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid & poly-L-lysine double-stranded RNA; Montanide® ISA-51 VG: mineral oil-based adjuvant; also called (IFA)incomplete Freund's adjuvant.
Active Comparator: Phase II is the randomized component.; The doses of NY-ESO-1 and Montanide will remain the same as in Phase I; the highest tolerated Phase I dose of Poly-ICLC will become the Phase II Poly-ICLC dose. In Phase II, patients will be randomized to a subcutaneous vaccination of NY-ESO-1 protein with Poly-ICLC alone dose TBD (Arm A) or with NY-ESO-1 protein, Poly-ICLC dose TBD and Montanide (Arm B).	Biological: NY-ESO-1 protein; Poly-ICLC; Montanide; Phase I represents the dose-escalation component with Poly-ICLC given in combination with NY-ESO-1 and Montanide in an open-label fashion. The dose of Poly-ICLC will be increased stepwise from 0.35mg to 1.4mg while the dose of NY-ESO-1 antigen (100µg) and Montanide (1.1mL) will be held constant. Phase II: The doses of NY-ESO-1 and Montanide will remain the same as in Phase I; the highest tolerated Phase I dose of Poly-ICLC will become the Phase II Poly-ICLC dose. In Phase II, patients will be randomized to a subcutaneous vaccination of NY-ESO-1 protein with Poly-ICLC alone dose TBD (Arm A) or with NY-ESO-1 protein, Poly-ICLC dose TBD and Montanide (Arm B).; Other Names: Cancer-Testis (CT) antigen expression: NY-ESO-1; Poly ICLC: carboxymethylcellulose, polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid & poly-L-lysine double-stranded RNA; Montanide® ISA-51 VG: mineral oil-based adjuvant; also called (IFA)incomplete Freund's adjuvant.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Phase I, Number of Participants With SAE and DLT	Safety measured by number of Serious Adverse Events per the CTEP v4.0 of the NCI Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) and Dose Limiting Toxicity (DLT).	52 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
CD4+ and CD8+ Response	Cellular response evaluated for the induction of cellular T cell (CD4+ and CD8+) immunity to subcutaneous vaccination with NY-ESO-1 protein in combination with Poly-ICLC when given with or without Montanide. Number of participants with increase CD4+ and CD8+ levels.	Up to 52 weeks
NY-ESO-1 Expression by IHC	Analysis of immune cell infiltration at the injection site by IHC. IHC analysis of immune cell infiltration was performed for each arm using a scoring system. 0: No expression of the marker of interest, 1: single cells or small clusters (<5 cells together) expressing marker of interest, 2: medium size clusters of cells expressing marker of interest, and 3: huge and homogeneously positive clusters of cells expressing marker of interest.	up to 52 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Nina Bhardwaj
• Collaborators: Cancer Research Institute, New York City; Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research; Oncovir, Inc.
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD, NYU Langone Health; Principal Investigator: Anna Pavlick, D.O., NYU Langone Health

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Click here for more information about this study: Poly-ICLC as an adjuvant for NY-ESO-1 protein vaccination with or without Montanide ® ISA-51 VG in patients with high risk melanoma in complete clinical remission

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: September 1, 2010
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 11, 2013
• Study Completion (Actual): March 11, 2013

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 2, 2010
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 2, 2010
• First Posted (Estimate): March 3, 2010

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 13, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 16, 2018
• Last Verified: November 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Neoplasms; Vaccine; Immunotherapy; Immunogenicity; Skin Cancer; Melanoma; Adjuvant Therapy; Oncogenesis; LAGE; Cancer Immunity
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms; Neuroectodermal Tumors; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal; Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue; Neuroendocrine Tumors; Nevi and Melanomas; Melanoma; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Anti-Infective Agents; Antiviral Agents; Immunologic Factors; Gastrointestinal Agents; Dermatologic Agents; Adjuvants, Immunologic; Emollients; Interferon Inducers; Laxatives; Poly ICLC; Carboxymethylcellulose Sodium; Poly I-C; Monatide (IMS 3015); Freund's Adjuvant; Mineral Oil
• Other Study ID Numbers: GCO 13-1391