Pembrolizumab Plus Paclitaxel, Cisplatin Followed by Surgery for Locally Advanced ESCC (KEYSTONE-001)

Efficacy and Safety of Pembrolizumab Plus Paclitaxel, Cisplatin Followed by Surgery in Patients With Locally Advanced Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (KEYSTONE-001)

The purpose of this study is to observe and evaluate the efficacy and safety of pembrolizumab plus paclitaxel, cisplatin followed by Da Vinci robot radical surgery for locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma; Stage III
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Pembrolizumab Injection [Keytruda]

Detailed Description

The Preoperative chemoradiotherapy with surgery is the standard treatment in NCCN guideline. But many patients refused or abandon radiotherapy because of the intolerable adverse effects. We designed a single-arm, open-label, phase II trial of pembrolizumab plus paclitaxel, cisplatin followed by Da Vinci robot radical surgery for locally advanced (stage III) esophageal squamous cell cancer. The purpose of this study is to observe and evaluate the efficacy and safety.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 50
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• China
  • Tianjin
    • Tianjin, Tianjin, China, 300060
      • Department of minimally invasive esophageal surgery, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 70 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Histologically confirmed esophageal squamous cell carcinoma;
2. Potentially resectable cT3N1M0，cT1-3N2M0(stage III)(AJCC 8 TNM classification);
3. Have a performance status of 0 or 1 on the ECOG Performance Scale;
4. Age 18-70 years old, both men and women;
5. Be willing and able to provide written informed consent/assent for the trial;
6. Demonstrate adequate organ function , all screening labs should be performed within 10 days of treatment initiation;
7. Female subject of childbearing potential should have a negative urine or serum pregnancy within 72 hours prior to receiving the first dose of study medication. If the urine test is positive or cannot be confirmed as negative, a serum pregnancy test will be required;
8. Be willing to provide tissue from a newly obtained core or excisional biopsy of a tumor lesion through repeated biopsies. Newly-obtained is defined as a specimen obtained up to 4 weeks (28 days) prior to initiation of treatment on Day 1. Subjects for whom newly-obtained samples cannot be provided (e.g. inaccessible or subject safety concern) may submit an archived specimen only upon agreement from the Sponsor.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Prior therapy (operation, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, or chemotherapy) for esophageal cancer;
2. Ineligibility or contraindication for esophagectomy;
3. Has a diagnosis of immunodeficiency or is receiving chronic systemic steroid therapy (in dosing exceeding 10 mg daily of prednisone equivalent) or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days prior to the first dose of study drug;
4. Has active autoimmune disease that has required systemic treatment in the past 2 years (i.e. with use of disease modifying agents, corticosteroids or immunosuppressive drugs);
5. Has severe hypersensitivity and adverse events (≥Grade 3) to nivolumab and/or any PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors.

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: Pembrolizumab+ Paclitaxel+Cisplatin; Pembrolizumab 200mg D1; Paclitaxel 135mg/m2 D2; Cisplatin 20mg/m2 D2-D4; repeated every 3 weeks

Drug: Pembrolizumab Injection [Keytruda]; Neoadjuvant period:preoperative therapy with three cycles: Pembrolizumab 200mg D1; Paclitaxel 135mg/m2 D2; Cisplatin 20mg/m2 D2-D4; repeated every 3 weeks. Da Vinci robot radical surgery: Before surgery, head/abdomen/chest CT scan, type B ultrasonic, upper gastrointestinal contrast, endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), and gastroscopy with biopsy will be done. Surgery should be done within 4-6 weeks after last neoadjuvant treatment finished. Adjuvant period: Adjuvant treatment with pembrolizumab 200mg every 3 weeks (6 cycles) should be performed within 3-6 weeks after surgery if the surgical pathology result is not pCR. abdomen/chest CT scan will be performed every 3 month after surgery.; Other Names: Cisplatin; Paclitaxel

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Major pathologic response	Viable tumor comprised ≤ 10% of resected tumor specimens	3 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Overall survival (OS)	Time from the enrollment to death of any cause	24 months
Lymph node derating rate	Lymph node derating rate	At time of surgery
R0 resection rate	R0 resection rate	At time of surgery
Disease-free survival (DFS)	DFS is defined as the time interval between the date of enrollment and the date of the first documented evidence of relapse after radical resection at any site or death related to cancer (including toxicity), whichever occurred first.	24 months
Objective response rate (ORR)	Partial response is defined as a decrease by 30% or more in sums of longest diameter of measurable target lesions	3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Delyon J, Biard L, Renaud M, Resche-Rigon M, Le Goff J, Dalle S, Heidelberger V, Da Meda L, Toullec L, Carcelain G, Mourah S, Caillat-Zucman S, Allain V, Battistella M, Lebbe C. PD-1 blockade with pembrolizumab in classic or endemic Kaposi's sarcoma: a multicentre, single-arm, phase 2 study. Lancet Oncol. 2022 Apr;23(4):491-500. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(22)00097-3. Epub 2022 Mar 10.
• Shang X, Zhao G, Liang F, Zhang C, Zhang W, Liu L, Li R, Duan X, Ma Z, Yue J, Chen C, Meng B, Ren X, Jiang H. Safety and effectiveness of pembrolizumab combined with paclitaxel and cisplatin as neoadjuvant therapy followed by surgery for locally advanced resectable (stage III) esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: a study protocol for a prospective, single-arm, single-center, open-label, phase-II trial (Keystone-001). Ann Transl Med. 2022 Feb;10(4):229. doi: 10.21037/atm-22-513.
• Lv H, Tian Y, Li J, Huang C, Sun B, Gai C, Li Z, Tian Z. Neoadjuvant Sintilimab Plus Chemotherapy in Resectable Locally Advanced Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Front Oncol. 2022 Apr 29;12:864533. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.864533. eCollection 2022.
• Shang X, Zhang W, Zhao G, Liang F, Zhang C, Yue J, Duan X, Ma Z, Chen C, Pang Q, Zhang W, Liu L, Ren X, Meng B, Zhang P, Ma Y, Zhang L, Li H, Kang X, Li Y, Jiang H. Pembrolizumab Combined With Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Versus Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy Followed by Surgery for Locally Advanced Oesophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Protocol for a Multicentre, Prospective, Randomized-Controlled, Phase III Clinical Study (Keystone-002). Front Oncol. 2022 Mar 31;12:831345. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.831345. eCollection 2022.
• Kassab J, Saba L, Kassab R, Kourie HR. Tsunami of immunotherapies in the management of esophageal cancer. Immunotherapy. 2022 Aug;14(11):879-884. doi: 10.2217/imt-2022-0035. Epub 2022 Jun 15.
• Teixeira Farinha H, Digklia A, Schizas D, Demartines N, Schafer M, Mantziari S. Immunotherapy for Esophageal Cancer: State-of-the Art in 2021. Cancers (Basel). 2022 Jan 22;14(3):554. doi: 10.3390/cancers14030554.

Helpful Links

• (Keystone-001): Interim analysis of a prospective, single-arm, single-center, phase II trial

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 8, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 17, 2022
• Study Completion (Anticipated): December 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 12, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 12, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): May 15, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 10, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 6, 2023
• Last Verified: April 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Digestive System Diseases; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms; Digestive System Neoplasms; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Esophageal Diseases; Neoplasms, Squamous Cell; Esophageal Neoplasms; Carcinoma; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Antineoplastic Agents; Tubulin Modulators; Antimitotic Agents; Mitosis Modulators; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological; Paclitaxel; Cisplatin; Pembrolizumab
• Other Study ID Numbers: TianjinCIH2020101

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