Gemcitabine and Nab-Paclitaxel vs Gemcitabine, Nab-Paclitaxel, Durvalumab and Tremelimumab as 1st Line Therapy in Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

A Randomized Phase II Trial of Gemcitabine and Nab-Paclitaxel vs Gemcitabine, Nab-Paclitaxel, Durvalumab and Tremelimumab as 1st Line Therapy in Metastatic Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

The standard or usual treatment for this disease consists of two chemotherapy drugs gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel given together.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Gemcitabine; Drug: Durvalumab; Drug: Tremelimumab; Drug: Nab-paclitaxel

Detailed Description

Durvalumab is a new type of drug for many types of cancer. Laboratory tests show that it works by allowing the immune system to detect cancer and reactivate the immune response. This may halp to slow down the growth of cancer or may cause cancer cells to die. Durvalumab has been shown to shrink tumours in animals and has been studied in a few people and seems promising but it is not clear if it can offer better results than standard treatments alone.

Tremelimumab is a new type of drug for various types of cancers. It works in a similar way to durvalumab and may improve the effect of durvalumab. This may also help slow the growth of the cancer cells or may cause cancer cells to die. Tremelimumab has been shown to shrink tumours in animals and has been studied in a few people and seems promising but it is not clear if it can offer better results than standard treatment alone when used with durvalumab.

Combination of durvalumab and tremelimumab have also been studied and when combined have been shown to increase tumour shrinkage in animals compared to either drug alone and while the combination has been studied in a few people, it is not clear if it can offer better results than standard treatment.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 180
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Alberta
    • Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 4N2
      • Tom Baker Cancer Centre
  • British Columbia
    • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V5Z 4E6
      • BCCA - Vancouver Cancer Centre
  • Manitoba
    • Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R3E 0V9
      • CancerCare Manitoba
  • New Brunswick
    • Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, E1C 6Z8
      • The Moncton Hospital
    • Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, E1C 8X3
      • The Vitalite Health Network - Dr. Leon Richard
  • Newfoundland and Labrador
    • St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, A1B 3V6
      • Dr. H. Bliss Murphy Cancer Centre
  • Nova Scotia
    • Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 1V7
      • QEII Health Sciences Centre
  • Ontario
    • Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8V 5C2
      • Juravinski Cancer Centre at Hamilton Health Sciences
    • Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 2V7
      • Kingston Health Sciences Centre
    • Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, N2G 1G3
      • Grand River Regional Cancer Centre
    • London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5W9
      • London Regional Cancer Program
    • Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1H 8L6
      • Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
    • Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, P6B 0A8
      • Algoma District Cancer Program
    • St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, L2S 0A9
      • Niagara Health System
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 2M9
      • University Health Network
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4N 3M5
      • Odette Cancer Centre
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M6R 1B5
      • St. Joseph's Health Centre
  • Quebec
    • Laval, Quebec, Canada, H7M 3L9
      • Hopital de la Cite-de-la-Sante
    • Levis, Quebec, Canada, G6V 3Z1
      • L'Hotel-Dieu de Levis
    • Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H2X 3E4
      • CHUM-Centre Hospitalier de l'Universite de Montreal
    • Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H4A 3J1
      • The Research Institute of the McGill University
    • Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3T 1E2
      • The Jewish General Hospital
    • Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H4J 1C5
      • Centre Integre Universitaire De Sante Et De Services
    • Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, G1R 2J6
      • CHUQ-Pavillon Hotel-Dieu de Quebec
    • Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada, J1H 5N4
      • Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke
  • Saskatchewan
    • Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, S4T 7T1
      • Allan Blair Cancer Centre
    • Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N 4H4
      • Saskatoon Cancer Centre

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients must have histologically or cytologically confirmed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma which is metastatic.
• Must have presence of measurable or evaluable disease as defined by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumours (RECIST 1.1).
• Patients must be considered suitable candidates for, and able to receive, first line chemotherapy for metastatic disease with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel.
• Patient must consent to provision of, and investigator(s) must confirm access to and agree to submit within 4 weeks of randomization to the CCTG Central Tumour Bank, a representative formalin fixed paraffin block of tumour tissue of adequate amount and quality in order that the specific correlative marker assays proscribed in the protocol may be conducted.
• Patient must consent to provision of samples of blood, serum and plasma in order that the specific correlative marker assays proscribed may be conducted.
• Patients must be ≥ 18 years of age.
• Patients must have an ECOG performance status of 0 or 1 with a life expectancy of at least 12 weeks.
• No prior treatment for metastatic disease is permitted. Patients may have received prior adjuvant chemotherapy if the last dose was given more than 6 months prior to recurrence. Patients may not have received chemoradiotherapy or adjuvant radiation therapy. Patient may not have received nab-paclitaxel as adjuvant therapy. Prior systemic treatment for borderline resectable or locally advanced disease is not permitted. Patients receiving a single dose of radiation (up to 8Gy/800RAD) with palliative intent for pain control are eligible provided a minimum of 14 days have elapsed between the radiation and the date of randomization.
• Adequate normal organ and marrow function as defined below (must be done within 14 days prior to registration).

Absolute neutrophils ≥ 1.5 x 10^9/L Platelets ≥ 100 x 10^9/L Hemoglobin ≥90 g/L Bilirubin ≤ 1.5 x upper normal limit AST and ALT ≤ 2.5 x upper normal limit Serum creatinine <1.25 UNL or Creatinine clearance ≥40mL/min

• Imaging investigations including CT/MRI of chest/abdomen/pelvis or other scans as necessary to document all sites of disease done within 28 days prior to randomization.
• Patient is able (i.e. sufficiently fluent) and willing to complete the quality of life questionnaires in either English or French.
• Patient consent must be appropriately obtained in accordance with applicable local and regulatory requirements.
• Patients must be accessible for treatment and follow-up. Patients registered on this trial must be treated and followed at the participating centre. Patients must agree to return to the participating centre for management of any adverse events which may occur through the course of the trial. This implies there must be reasonable geographical limits placed on patients being considered for this trial. Sites are encouraged to contact CCTG (or their respective Cooperative Group for sites outside Canada) for any questions regarding the interpretation of this criterion. Investigators must assure themselves the patients randomized on this trial will be available for complete documentation of the treatment, adverse events, and follow-up.
• In accordance with CCTG policy, protocol treatment is to begin within 2 working days of patient randomization.
• Women/men of childbearing potential must have agreed to use a highly effective contraceptive method

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with a history of other malignancies, except: adequately treated non-melanoma skin cancer, curatively treated in-situ cancer of the cervix, or other solid tumours curatively treated with no evidence of disease for ≥ 5 years. Patients with a history of other malignancies detected at an early stage and whom the investigator believes have been curatively treated and are at a low risk of recurrence MAY be eligible. Contact CCTG to discuss eligibility prior to enrolling.
• Any previous treatment with a PD1 or PD-L1 inhibitor, including durvalumab or an anti-CTLA4, including tremelimumab.
• History of primary immunodeficiency, history of organ transplant that requires therapeutic immunosuppression or prior history of severe (grade 3 or 4) immune-mediated toxicity from other immune therapy.
• Current or prior use of immunosuppressive medication within 28 days before the first planned dose of study therapy, with the exceptions of intranasal and inhaled corticosteroids or systemic corticosteroids at physiological doses, which are not to exceed 10 mg/day of prednisone, or an equivalent corticosteroid.

• Active or prior documented autoimmune or inflammatory disorders (including inflammatory bowel disease (e.g. colitis or Crohn's disease) diverticulitis with the exception of diverticulosis, celiac disease or other serious gastrointestinal chronic conditions associated with diarrhea), systemic lupus erythematosus, Sarcoidosis syndrome, or Wegener syndrome (granulomatosis with polyangitis), rheumatoid arthritis, hypophysitis, uveitis, etc. within the past 3 years prior to the start of treatment. The following are exceptions to this criterion:

  • Patients with alopecia
  • Patients with Grave's disease, vitiligo or psoriasis not requiring systemic treatment (within the last 2 years).
  • Patients with hypothyroidism (e.g. following Hashimoto syndrome) stable on hormone replacement.

NOTE: Patients with vitiligo, Grave's disease, or psoriasis not requiring systemic treatment (within the past 2 years) are not excluded.

• Patients with active or uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to:

  • cardiac dysfunction (symptomatic congestive heart failure, uncontrolled hypertension, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia);
  • active peptic ulcer disease or gastritis;
  • active bleeding diatheses;
  • psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements or compromise the ability of the subject to give written informed consent;
  • known history of previous clinical diagnosis of tuberculosis;
  • known human immunodeficiency virus infection (positive HIV 1/2 antibodies);
  • known active hepatitis B infection (positive HBV surface antigen (HBsAg)). Patients with a past or resolved HBV infection (defined as presence of hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) and absence of HBsAg) are eligible;
  • known active hepatitis C infection. Patients positive for hepatitis C (HCV) antibody are eligible only if polymerase chain reaction is negative for HCV RNA.
• History of leptomeningeal carcinomatosis.
• Symptomatic or uncontrolled brain metastases requiring concurrent treatment, inclusive of but not limited to surgery, radiation and/or corticosteroids.
• Receipt of live attenuated vaccination (examples include, but are not limited to, vaccines for measles, mumps, and rubella, live attenuated influenza vaccine (nasal), chicken pox vaccine, oral polio vaccine, rotavirus vaccine, yellow fever vaccine, BCG vaccine, typhoid vaccine and typhus vaccine) within 30 days prior to randomization.
• Pregnant or lactating women.
• Any active disease condition which would render the protocol treatment dangerous or impair the ability of the patient to receive protocol therapy.
• Any condition (e.g. psychological, geographical, etc.) that does not permit compliance with the protocol.
• History of hypersensitivity to gemcitabine, nab-paclitaxel, durvalumab or tremelimumab or any excipient.

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
Active Comparator: Gemcitabine plus Nab-Paclitaxel; Gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 IV & Nab-Paclitaxel 125 mg/m2 until unequivocal progression or unacceptable toxicity. Days 1, 8, 15 Q28 days.	Drug: Gemcitabine; Drug: Nab-paclitaxel
Experimental: Gemcitabine + Nab-Paclitaxel + Durvalumab + Tremelimumab; Gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 IV & Nab-Paclitaxel 125 mg/m2 until unequivocal progression or unacceptable toxicity. Day 1, 8, 15 Q28 days. plus Durvalumab 1500mg IV day 1 only Q28 days; and Tremelimumab 75 mg IV Days 1 cycles 1, 2, 3 and 4 only until unequivocal progression or unacceptable toxicity.	Drug: Gemcitabine; Drug: Durvalumab; Drug: Tremelimumab; Drug: Nab-paclitaxel

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Overall Survival	Time from randomization to death from any cause with patients who were alive at the time of the final analysis or who became lost to follow-up censored at their last date known to be alive.	35 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Progression Free Survival	Defined as the time from randomization to the first objective documentation of disease progression, defined using Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors Criteria (RECIST v1.0), as a 20% increase in the sum of the longest diameter of target lesions, or a measurable increase in a non-target lesion, or the appearance of new lesions, or death due to any cause with patients who had not progressed or died at the time of final analysis censored on the date of the last tumour assessment.	35 months
Objective Response Rate	Defined as percentage of participants with objective response over all participants randomized. Per Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors Criteria (RECIST v1.0) for target lesions and assessed by MRI: Complete Response (CR), Disappearance of all target lesions; Partial Response (PR), >=30% decrease in the sum of the longest diameter of target lesions; Objective Response (OR) = CR + PR.	35 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Canadian Cancer Trials Group
• Collaborators: AstraZeneca
• Investigators: Study Chair: Derek Jonker, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, ON Canada

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Renouf DJ, Loree JM, Knox JJ, Topham JT, Kavan P, Jonker D, Welch S, Couture F, Lemay F, Tehfe M, Harb M, Aucoin N, Ko YJ, Tang PA, Ramjeesingh R, Meyers BM, Kim CA, Du P, Jia S, Schaeffer DF, Gill S, Tu D, O'Callaghan CJ. The CCTG PA.7 phase II trial of gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel with or without durvalumab and tremelimumab as initial therapy in metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Nat Commun. 2022 Aug 26;13(1):5020. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-32591-8.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 7, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 3, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): March 14, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 22, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 22, 2016
• First Posted (Estimated): August 25, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 14, 2025
• Last Verified: March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Carcinoma; Adenocarcinoma; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological; Antineoplastic Agents; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; Antimetabolites; Tubulin Modulators; Antimitotic Agents; Mitosis Modulators; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; Durvalumab; Gemcitabine; Tremelimumab; Paclitaxel
• Other Study ID Numbers: PA7

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No