Thoracic Radiotherapy Plus Durvalumab in Elderly and/or Frail NSCLC Stage III Patients Unfit for Chemotherapy (TRADE-hypo)

Thoracic Radiotherapy Plus Durvalumab in Elderly and/or Frail NSCLC Stage III Patients Unfit for Chemotherapy - Employing Optimized (Hypofractionated) Radiotherapy to Foster Durvalumab Efficacy

This is a randomized, open-label, multicenter, phase II trial investigating the combination of thoracic radiotherapy plus Durvalumab in patients with locally advanced, unresectable NSCLC (stage III) that are unfit for chemotherapy (e.g. due to age and/or frailty).

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: NSCLC, Stage III
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Durvalumab Injection [Imfinzi]; Radiation: Thoracic Radiotherapy (TRT) hypofractionated; Radiation: Thoracic Radiotherapy (TRT) conventionally

Detailed Description

This trial investigates the feasibility and treatment efficacy when combining durvalumab treatment with either conventionally fractionated (CON-group) or hypofractionated thoracic radiotherapy (HYPO-group) in previously untreated NSCLC stage III patients prone to radiotherapy only.

A safety lead-in phase with stop-and-go design will precede full enrollment into the HYPO-group.

Tumor tissue as well as blood and stool samples will be collected for future biomarker analysis.

It is hypothesized that TRT combined with concurrent durvalumab administration in patients with unresectable stage III NSCLC, who are not amenable to sequential radio-/chemotherapy

1. is safe and feasible,
2. will improve treatment efficacy by a synergistic effect of checkpoint inhibition and the photon-induction of immunostimulatory pathways.
3. will have an effect on the immunological characteristics of the tumor, the microenvironment, and the systemic immune response, such as upregulation of PD-L1 or secretion of stimulatory cytokines and recruitment and priming of immunocompetent cells, which might then mediate the "abscopal effect" beyond the irradiated targets.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 51
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Germany
  • Aachen, Germany, 52074
    • Universitätsklinikum Aachen
  • Berlin, Germany, 13359
    • DRK Kliniken Berlin-Mitte
  • Cologne, Germany, 51109
    • Kliniken der Stadt Köln gGmbH, Lungenklinik Merheim
  • Göttingen, Germany, 37075
    • Universitätsmedizin Göttingen
  • Gütersloh, Germany, 33332
    • Onkodok GmbH
  • Heidelberg, Germany, 69126
    • Thoraxklinik am Universitatsklinikum Heidelberg
  • Hemer, Germany, 58675
    • Lungenklinik Hemer, Pneumologie und Thorakale Onkologie
  • Karlsruhe, Germany, 76137
    • Vincentius-Diakonissen-Kliniken gAG
  • Ludwigsburg, Germany, 71640
    • Klinikum Ludwigsburg
  • Mainz, Germany, 55131
    • Universitätsmedizin Mainz
  • Mönchengladbach, Germany, 41063
    • Kliniken Maria Hilf GmbH
  • Münster, Germany, 48153
    • Gemeinschaftspraxis Fur Hamatologie Und Onkologie
  • Offenbach, Germany, 63069
    • Sana Klinikum Offenbach GmbH
  • Offenburg, Germany, 77654
    • Pi.Tri-Studien GmbH

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Fully-informed written consent and locally required authorization (European Union [EU] Data Privacy Directive in the EU) obtained from the patient/legal representative prior to performing any protocol-related procedures, including screening evaluations.
2. Age ≥ 18 years.
3. Histologically documented diagnosis of unresectable stage III NSCLC.
4. Non-feasibility of sequential chemo-/radiotherapy as determined by the site's multi-disciplinary tumor board; if there is no tumor board, then this decision will be made by the investigator in consultation with a radiation oncologist, if the investigator is not a radiation oncologist; or by the investigator in consultation with an oncologist, if the investigator is not an oncologist.

5. Fulfills at least one of the following criteria:

   • Performance status (PS) 2 (ECOG scale)
   • ECOG 1 and CCI ≥ 1
   • Age ≥ 70 years
6. Must have a life expectancy of at least 12 weeks.
7. FEV1 ≥ 40%
8. DLCO or DLCO/VA (Hb-corrected, if available) ≥ 40%
9. FVC or VC ≥ 70%
10. At least one measurable site of disease as defined by RECIST 1.1

11. Adequate bone marrow and renal function including the following:

    • Hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dL;
    • absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1.0 x 103/L;
    • platelets ≥75x 109/L;
    • Calculated creatinine clearance ≥30 mL/min as determined by the Cockcroft-Gault equation

12. Adequate hepatic function (with stenting for any obstruction, if required) including the following:

    • Serum bilirubin ≤ 1.5 x institutional upper limit of normal (ULN);
    • AST (SGOT) / ALT (SGPT) ≤ 2.5x institutional ULN
13. Female patients with reproductive potential must have a negative urine or serum pregnancy test within 7 days prior to start of trial.
14. Evidence of post-menopausal status or negative urinary or serum pregnancy test for female pre-menopausal patients.
15. The patient is willing and able to comply with the protocol for the duration of the study, including hospital visits for treatment and scheduled follow-up visits and examinations.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Concurrent enrollment in another clinical study, unless it is an observational (non-interventional) clinical study, or during the follow-up period of an interventional study.
2. Participation in another clinical study with an investigational product within 21 days prior to the first dose of the study treatment.
3. Prior immunotherapy or use of other investigational agents, including prior treatment with an anti-Programmed Death receptor-1 (PD-1),anti-Programmed Death-1 ligand-1 (PD-L1), anti-PD-L2, or anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated antigen-4 (anti-CTLA-4) antibody, therapeutic cancer vaccines.
4. History or current radiology suggestive of interstitial lung disease.
5. Oxygen-dependent medical condition.
6. Any concurrent chemotherapy, investigational product (IMP), biologic, or hormonal therapy for cancer treatment. Concurrent use of hormonal therapy for non-cancer related conditions (eg, hormone replacement therapy) is acceptable.
7. Prior thoracic radiotherapy within the past 5 years before the first dose of study drug.
8. Major surgery (as defined by the Investigator) within 4 weeks prior to enrollment into the study; patients must have recovered from effects of any major surgery. Note: Local non-major surgery for palliative intent is acceptable.

9. Active or prior documented autoimmune or inflammatory disorders (except inflammatory bowel disease [e.g. ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease]; ( including diverticulitis [with the exception of diverticulosis], celiac disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, Sarcoidosis, or Wegener's syndrome [granulomatosis with polyangiitis, Graves' disease, rheumatoid arthritis, hypophysitis, uveitis). The following are exceptions to this criterion:

   • Patients with vitiligo or alopecia
   • Patients with hypothyroidism (e.g., following Hashimoto's disease) stable on hormone replacement
   • Any chronic skin condition that does not require systemic therapy
   • Patients without active disease in the last 5 years may be included but only after consultation with the study physician.
10. Active, uncontrolled inflammatory bowel disease [e.g. ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease]. Patients in stable remission for more than 1 year may be included.
11. Uncontrolled intercurrent illness, including but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, uncontrolled hypertension, unstable angina pectoris, uncontrolled cardiac arrhythmia, interstitial lung disease, gastrointestinal conditions associated with diarrhea, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirement, substantially increase risk of incurring AEs or compromise the ability of the patient to give written informed consent.

12. History of another primary malignancy except for:

    • Malignancy treated with curative intent and with no known active disease ≥ 3 years before the first dose of IMP and of low potential risk for recurrence
    • Adequately treated non-melanoma skin cancer or lentigo maligna without evidence of disease

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: Arm A (HYPO group); Durvalumab at a fixed dose of 1,500 mg as an IV infusion over 1 hour, on day 1, to be repeated every 4 weeks (Q4W) for a maximum of 12 cycles; Thoracic radiation therapy (TRT): hypofractionated thoracic radiotherapy consisting of 20 x 2,75 Gy (55 Gy) within 4 weeks (+9 days)	Drug: Durvalumab Injection [Imfinzi]; Durvalumab fixed dose of 1,500 mg; Radiation: Thoracic Radiotherapy (TRT) hypofractionated; Hypofractionated TRT consisting of 20 x 2,75 Gy (55 Gy) within 4 weeks
Active Comparator: Arm B (CON group); Durvalumab at a fixed dose of 1,500 mg as an IV infusion over 1 hour, on day 1, to be repeated every 4 weeks (Q4W) for a maximum of 12 cycles; Thoracic radiation therapy (TRT): conventional fractions of 30 x 2 Gy (60 Gy) within 6 weeks (+9 days)	Drug: Durvalumab Injection [Imfinzi]; Durvalumab fixed dose of 1,500 mg; Radiation: Thoracic Radiotherapy (TRT) conventionally; Conventionally fractionated TRT consisting of 30 x 2 Gy (60 Gy) within 6 weeks

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Toxicity (pneumonitis)	Toxicity, defined by the occurence of treatment-related pneumonitis grade ≥ 3	up to 35 months
Objective response	Objective response evaluated at 12 weeks (3 months) after first durvalumab administration according to RECIST 1.1 criteria	up to 35 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
treatment-related AEs and SAEs	Occurence of treatment-related AEs and SAEs according to CTCAE V5.0	up to 35 months
frequency of abnormal laboratory parameters (hematology panel, chemistry panel, Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH))	Frequency of abnormal values of laboratory parameters	up to 35 months
Progression Free Survival (PFS)	PFS according to RECIST 1.1	up to 35 months
Duration of Clinical Benefit	Duration of Clinical Benefit (Duration of Complete Response (CR), Partial Response (PR), Stable Disease (SD)) according to RECIST 1.1	up to 35 months
Metastasis-Free Survival (MFS)	Time from the date of allocation / randomization to the date of first observed metastatic lesion (investigator assessment according to RECIST 1.1) or death from any cause	up to 35 months
Overall survival	time from the date of treatment allocation to the date of death	up to 35 months
Quality of Life (FACT-L)	measured by FACT-L questionnaire	up to 35 months
objective response rate	Descriptive sub-group analyses of efficacy in relation to PD-L1 expression levels (<°1% vs ≥°1%)	up to 35 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Vulnerability assessment based on the G8-screening questionnaire	Vulnerability assessment based on the G8-screening questionnaire and its association to survival and outcome	up to 35 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Institut für Klinische Krebsforschung IKF GmbH at Krankenhaus Nordwest
• Collaborators: AstraZeneca; Thoraxklinik-Heidelberg gGmbH
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Farastuk Bozorgmehr, Dr. med., Dept. of Thoracic Oncology Thoraxklinik at Heidelberg University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Bozorgmehr F, Chung I, Christopoulos P, Krisam J, Schneider MA, Bruckner L, Mueller DW, Thomas M, Rieken S. Thoracic radiotherapy plus Durvalumab in elderly and/or frail NSCLC stage III patients unfit for chemotherapy - employing optimized (hypofractionated) radiotherapy to foster durvalumab efficacy: study protocol of the TRADE-hypo trial. BMC Cancer. 2020 Aug 26;20(1):806. doi: 10.1186/s12885-020-07264-8.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 20, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 21, 2026
• Study Completion (Actual): January 21, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 29, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 15, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): April 17, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 27, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 23, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Durvalumab; Thoracic Radiotherapy
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Lung Diseases; Respiratory Tract Neoplasms; Thoracic Neoplasms; Lung Neoplasms; Carcinoma, Bronchogenic; Bronchial Neoplasms; Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological; Antineoplastic Agents; durvalumab
• Other Study ID Numbers: TRADE-hypo; 2019-002192-33 (EudraCT Number); AIO-YMO/TRK-0319 (Other Identifier: AIO); ESR-18-13893 (Other Grant/Funding Number: AstraZeneca); 2024-513948-28-00 (Ctis)

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