A Phase II Study of the Interleukin-6 Receptor Inhibitor Tocilizumab in Combination With Ipilimumab and Nivolumab in Patients With Unresectable Stage III or Stage IV Melanoma

This is a Phase II, open-label, single arm study. The study will consist of an assessment of the safety and tolerability of tocilizumab administered concurrently at 4 mg/kg every 6 weeks for 5 doses in combination with ipilimumab and nivolumab for four induction doses to week 12, then maintenance nivolumab alone up to one year to patients with advanced melanoma. Treatment will be divided into induction and maintenance phases. It is anticipated that this clinical study will inform the use of this 3-drug combination for further phase II and/or phase III clinical testing. The trial will include an assessment of the pharmacodynamic activity of tocilizumab administered in combination with ipilimumab and nivolumab.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Melanoma
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Ipilimumab; Drug: Nivolumab; Drug: Tocilizumab

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 71
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90025
      • The Angeles Clinic
  • Massachusetts
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02114
      • Massachusetts General Hospital
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02215
      • Dana Farber Cancer Institute
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10016
      • NYU Langone Health

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 signed and dated an Institutional Review Board (IRB)/Independent Ethics Committee (IEC)-approved written informed consent form (ICF) in accordance with regulatory and institutional guidelines. This must be obtained before the performance of any protocol-related procedures that are not part of normal patient care.
• Patients must be willing and able to comply with scheduled visits, treatment schedule, laboratory tests, tumor biopsies, and other requirements of the study.
• All patients must be either Stage IIIb/c/d or Stage IV melanoma according to the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) (8th edition) and have histologically-confirmed melanoma that is felt to be surgically unresectable in order to be eligible. Please refer to the AJCC 8th edition Cancer Staging Manual for a description of tumor, lymph node, metastasis, and staging.
• All melanomas, except ocular/uveal melanoma, regardless of primary site of disease will be allowed; mucosal melanomas are eligible.
• Patients must not have received prior anticancer treatment for metastatic disease (for example, but not limited to, systemic, local, radiation, radiopharmaceutical).
• Exceptions: Surgery for melanoma and/or post-resection brain radiotherapy (RT) if Central Nervous System (CNS) metastases and adjuvant RT for locoregional disease after resection and/or prior treatment with adjuvant IFN-alpha, ipilimumab or nivolumab (as described in Exclusion Criterion 2).
• All patients must have their disease status documented by a complete physical examination and imaging studies within 4 weeks prior to the first dose of study drug. Imaging studies must include computerized tomography (CT) scan of chest, abdomen, pelvis, and all known sites of resected disease in the setting of Stage IIIb/c/d or Stage IV disease, and brain magnetic resonance imaging ([MRI]; brain CT is allowable if MRI is contraindicated).
• The complete set of baseline radiographic images must be available before treatment initiation.
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status score of 0 or 1.
• Tumor tissue from the resected site of disease must be provided for biomarker analyses
• Prior treated CNS metastases must be without MRI evidence of recurrence for at least 4 weeks after treatment. Patients must be off immunosuppressive doses of systemic steroids (10 mg/day prednisone or equivalent) for at least 14 days prior to study drug administration, and must have returned to neurologic baseline status postoperatively.
• The 4-week period of stability is measured after the completion of the neurologic interventions (i.e., surgery and/or radiation).
• In addition to neurosurgery to treat CNS metastases, adjuvant radiation after the resection of CNS metastasis is allowed. Immunosuppressive doses of systemic steroids (doses > 10 mg/day prednisone or equivalent) must be discontinued at least 14 days before study drug administration.
• Prior surgery that required general anesthesia must be completed at least 4 weeks before study drug administration. Surgery requiring local/epidural anesthesia must be completed at least 72 hours before study drug administration.
• Normal labs
• Patient Re-enrollment: This study permits the re-enrollment of a patient that has discontinued the study as a screen failure (i.e., patient has not been dosed/has not been treated). If re-enrolled, the patient must be re-consented and satisfy all eligibility criteria.
• Women of childbearing potential (WOCBP) must have a negative serum or urine pregnancy test (minimum sensitivity 25 IU/L or equivalent units of human chorionic gonadotropin [human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG)] hormone) within 24 hours prior to the start of study drug.
• Women of childbearing potential must agree to follow instructions for method(s) of contraception for the duration of treatment with study drug(s) plus 5 half-lives of study drug plus 30 days (duration of ovulatory cycle). The half-life of nivolumab and ipilimumab is up to 25 days and 18 days, respectively. WOCBP should therefore use an adequate method to avoid pregnancy for a total of 23 weeks post treatment completion (Section 4.5).
• Males who are sexually active with WOCBP must agree to follow instructions for method(s) of contraception for the duration of treatment with study drug(s) plus 5 half lives of the study drug (s) plus 90 days (duration of sperm turnover). The half lives of nivolumab and ipilimumab are up to 25 days and 18 days, respectively. Men should therefore use an adequate method of contraception for a total of 31 weeks post treatment completion (Section 4.5).
• Azoospermic males and WOCBP who are continuously not heterosexually active are exempt from contraceptive requirements. However, they must still undergo pregnancy testing as described in this section.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with carcinomatosis meningitis or a history of current ocular/uveal melanoma are excluded.
• Patients with previous nonmelanoma malignancies are excluded unless a complete resection or remission was achieved at least 2 years prior to study entry and no additional therapy is required or anticipated to be required during the study period (exceptions include, but are not limited to, nonmelanoma skin cancers, in situ bladder cancer, in situ gastric cancer or gastrointestinal stromal tumor, in situ colon cancers, in situ cervical cancers/dysplasia, or breast carcinoma in situ).
• Patients with active, known, or suspected autoimmune disease. Patients with type I diabetes mellitus, residual hypothyroidism due to autoimmune thyroiditis only requiring hormone replacement, or skin disorders (such as vitiligo, psoriasis, or alopecia) not requiring systemic treatment are permitted to enroll. For any cases of uncertainty, it is recommended that the Principal Investigator be consulted prior to signing informed consent.
• Patients with a condition requiring systemic treatment with either corticosteroids (> 10 mg daily prednisone or equivalent) or other immunosuppressive medications within 14 days of study drug administration. Inhaled or topical steroids are permitted in the absence of active autoimmune disease.
• Prior therapy for melanoma with the following exceptions which are allowed: 1) surgery for the melanoma lesion(s), 2) adjuvant RT after neurosurgical resection for CNS lesions or for resected locoregional disease, and 3) prior adjuvant interferon (IFN)-alpha, ipilimumab and nivolumab (see qualifier below).
• Prior treatment with adjuvant IFN-alpha, adjuvant ipilimumab and/or nivolumab are allowed if completed 6 months prior to treatment.
• Treatment directed against the melanoma (eg, chemotherapy, targeted agents, biotherapy, limb perfusion) that is administered after a prior complete resection other than adjuvant radiation after neurosurgical resection or resection of locoregional disease and IFN-alpha, ipilimumab and nivolumab for resected melanoma.
• abnormalities labs
• Corrected QT interval using Fridericia's formula value > 480 msec at screening; family or personal history of long corrected QT interval (QTc) syndrome or ventricular arrhythmias including ventricular bigeminy at screening; previous history of drug induced QTc prolongation or the need for treatment with medications known or suspected of producing prolonged QTc intervals on electrocardiogram (ECG).
• Congestive heart failure (New York Heart Association Class III or IV), myocardial infarction
• Any serious or uncontrolled medical disorder or active infection

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Induction Phase, Maintenance Phase; Induction Phase: 2 induction treatment cycles of 42 days (6 weeks) each, of which the first cycle of 6 weeks is the dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) period. Maintenance Phase: Consists of treatment cycles of 84 days (12 weeks) each, and may extend up to 1 year.

Drug: Ipilimumab; 4 induction doses (during the 2 treatment cycles) at a dose of 1 mg/kg intravenously (IV) every 3 weeks, 4 times during the 12-week induction period, concurrent with nivolumab at 3 mg/kg administered at the same interval; Drug: Nivolumab; Nivolumab (3 mg/kg) will be administered IV on Days 1 and 22 of each 42-day induction treatment cycle. Nivolumab will continue to be administered IV at 240 mg flat dose every 2 weeks; i.e., at Days 1, 15, 29, 43, 57, and 71 of the 84-day treatment cycle for the first maintenance cycle until week 24, then nivolumab will be administered at 480 mg flat dose every 4 weeks to a maximum of 2 years; Drug: Tocilizumab; Administered intravenously for each 42-day induction treatment cycle. After 12 weeks of therapy, starting at Week 13, subjects enter the maintenance phase. Tocilizumab will be administered intravenously every 6 weeks during the first 84 day maintenance treatment cycle only at 4 mg/kg

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Percentage of Participants With Grades 3-5 Treatment Related Immune Related Adverse Events (irAEs)	Adverse events are graded according to the NCI CTCAE version 5.0. Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) are specific events occurring within 100 days of the last dose (which includes pneumonitis, diarrhea/colitis, hepatitis, nephritis/renal dysfunction, rash, and endocrine abnormalities [adrenal insufficiency, hypothyroidism/thyroiditis, hyperthyroidism, diabetes mellitus, and hypophysitis]), regardless of causality, for which patients received immunosuppressive medication for treatment of the event. The exception to the immunosuppressive medication criteria for irAEs is endocrine events (e.g., hypothyroidism/thyroiditis, hyperthyroidism, hypophysitis, diabetes mellitus, adrenal insufficiency), which are included regardless of treatment since these events are often managed without immunosuppression.	From start of treatment up to 100 days post treatment, *up to 18 months*
Objective Response Rate (ORR)	Objective Response Rate (ORR) is defined as the total number of patients whose best response outcome is a CR or PR by week 24 divided by the total number of evaluable patients. 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; Overall Response (OR) = CR + PR.	Week 24

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Disease Control Rate (DCR)	Disease Control Rate (DCR) is defined as the total number of patients whose best response outcome is a complete response (CR) or partial response (PR), or SD divided by the total number of evaluable patients.	From beginning of treatment until the first observation of disease progression (up to 5 years)
Progression-Free Survival (PFS)	Progression-Free Survival (PFS) is defined for each patient as the time from first dosing to the first observation of disease progression or death due to any cause. If a patient has not progressed or died at the time of analysis, PFS will be censored on the date of the last disease assessment. Patients who do not have any tumor assessment on treatment will be censored on the day of the first dose.	From start of treatment until the first observation of disease progression or death due to any cause, whichever came first (up to 5 years)
Duration of Overall Response	Duration of Overall Response will be computed for all patients whose best response is either a PR or CR and is calculated from the time the measurement criteria are met for PR or CR, whichever is recorded first, until the date of documented PD or death.	From date of best overall response until the first observation of disease progression or death due to any cause, whichever came first (up to 5 years)
Duration of Disease Control	Duration of Disease Control will be computed for the patients who had ORR outcome of CR, PR, or SD and is calculated from the beginning of treatment until the time of documented disease progression.	From start of treatment until the first observation of disease progression (up to 5 years)
Immune-related Response Rate (irRR)	Immune-related Response Rate (irRR) is defined as the proportion of response evaluable patients whose Immune Related Best Overall Response (irBOR) outcome is irPR, irCR.	From beginning of treatment until the first observation of disease progression (up to 5 years)
Immune-related Disease Control Rate	Immune-related Disease Control Rate is defined as the proportion of the response evaluable patients whose irBOR outcome is irPR, irCR, or immune-related stable disease (irSD).	From beginning of treatment until the first observation of disease progression (up to 5 years)
Immune-related Progression-Free Survival (irPFS)	Immune-related Progression-Free Survival (irPFS) is defined as the time between the first dosing date and the date of immune-related progressive disease (irPD) or death, whichever occurs first. For patients with no recorded post-baseline tumor assessment, irPFS will be censored at the day of first dose. A patient who dies without reported irPD will be considered to have progressed on the date of death. For those who remain alive and have no irPD, irPFS will be censored on the date of last evaluable tumor assessment. Patients who do not have any tumor assessment on treatment will be censored on the day of the first dose.	From start of treatment until the first observation of disease progression or death due to any cause, whichever came first (up to 5 years)
Duration of Immune-related Overall Response	Duration of Immune-related Overall Response will be computed for all patients whose irBOR outcome is either an irPR or irCR and is calculated from the time the measurement criteria are met for irPR or irCR, whichever is recorded first, until the date of documented PD or death by irRC.	From time irPR or irCR was met until the first observation of disease progression or death due to any cause, whichever came first (up to 5 years)
Duration of Immune-related Disease Control	Duration of Immune-related Disease Control will be computed for the patients who had irBOR outcome of irCR, irPR, or irSD and is calculated from the beginning of treatment until the time of documented disease progression by irRC.	From beginning of treatment until the first observation of disease progression (up to 5 years)
Overall Survival (OS)	Overall Survival is defined for each patient as the time from first dosing to death due to any cause. If a patient has not died at the time of analysis, OS will be censored as of their last known date alive (i.e. last time patient was contacted for any reason in the study). Patients who do not have any tumor assessment on treatment be followed up for OS, and their date of death will be incorporated into the OS analysis.	From start of treatment until the date of death from any cause (up to 5 years)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: NYU Langone Health
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Janice Mehnert, MD, New York Langone Health

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Fa'ak F, Buni M, Falohun A, Lu H, Song J, Johnson DH, Zobniw CM, Trinh VA, Awiwi MO, Tahon NH, Elsayes KM, Ludford K, Montazari EJ, Chernis J, Dimitrova M, Sandigursky S, Sparks JA, Abu-Shawer O, Rahma O, Thanarajasingam U, Zeman AM, Talukder R, Singh N, Chung SH, Grivas P, Daher M, Abudayyeh A, Osman I, Weber J, Tayar JH, Suarez-Almazor ME, Abdel-Wahab N, Diab A. Selective immune suppression using interleukin-6 receptor inhibitors for management of immune-related adverse events. J Immunother Cancer. 2023 Jun;11(6):e006814. doi: 10.1136/jitc-2023-006814.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 11, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): July 1, 2023
• Study Completion (Estimated): April 7, 2030

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 25, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 25, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): June 27, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 9, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 23, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Skin Diseases; Neuroectodermal Tumors; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal; Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue; Neuroendocrine Tumors; Nevi and Melanomas; Skin Neoplasms; Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases; Melanoma; Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins; Proteins; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Antibodies; Immunoglobulins; Immunoproteins; Blood Proteins; Serum Globulins; Globulins; Nivolumab; Ipilimumab; tocilizumab
• Other Study ID Numbers: 19-00008

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: The de-identified participant data from the final research dataset used in the published manuscript will be shared upon reasonable request beginning 9 months and ending 36 months following article publication or as required by a condition of awards and agreements supporting the research provided the investigator who proposes to use the data executes a data use agreement with NYU Langone Health. Requests may be directed to: janice.mehnert@nyulangone.org. The protocol and statistical analysis plan will be made available on Clinicaltrials.gov only as required by federal regulation or as a condition of awards and agreements supporting the research.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Beginning 9 months and ending 36 months following article publication or as required by a condition of awards and agreements supporting the research.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: The investigator who proposed to use the data will be provided access upon reasonable request. Requests should be directed to janice.mehnert@nyulangone.org. To gain access, data requestors will need to sign a data access agreement.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL; SAP

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