Bempegaldesleukin (NKTR-214) With Radiation and Anti-PD-1 Immunotherapy for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Phase II Study of Bempegaldesleukin (NKTR-214) Together With Palliative Radiation and Anti-PD-1 Checkpoint Blockade in Patients With Recurrent or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC)

This trial will evaluate safety and efficacy of the combination of anti-PD1, NKTR-214, and palliative radiation therapy in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Twenty-four participants will be enrolled to evaluate the efficacy of this combination.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Head and Neck Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: NKTR-214; Drug: anti-PD-1 therapy; Radiation: Palliative Radiation

Detailed Description

Following an informed consent process, participants will receive anti-PD-1 therapy with 200 mg of pembrolizumab and NKTR-214 at 0.006 mg/kg. Palliative radiation therapy will then be delivered to tumor sites causing or felt by the treating physician to have a high potential for causing symptoms with either 8 Gy X 3 or 4 Gy X 5 completed 3 to 7 days prior to cycle 2 of anti-PD1 and NKTR-214. Combined anti-PD-1 and NKTR-214 will then be delivered each subsequent cycle.

Efficacy will be measured by overall response rate (ORR), progression free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), clinical benefit (CB), and duration of response with ORR the primary outcome being compared to historical control data. Toxicity will be evaluated prior to administration of each 21-day cycle, while receiving NKTR-214 followed by every four months after the participant is off trial. Health related quality of life questionnaires will be completed with cycle 1 and 2 and then every 4 cycles thereafter.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 5
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Wisconsin
    • Madison, Wisconsin, United States, 53792
      • University of Wisconsin

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Written informed consent and HIPAA authorization for release of personal health information. NOTE: HIPAA authorization may be included in the informed consent or obtained separately
• Qualify for anti-PD-1 therapy based on current guidelines at the time of registration. This includes the standard requirement for the participant's tumor to have been previously determined to express PD-L1 with a combined positive score ≥ 1, as determined by an FDA-approved test.
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status of 0-2 within 30 days prior to enrollment
• Histologically proven diagnosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that is metastatic or recurrent disease that is surgically incurable
• Prior cancer treatment other than anti-PD-1 therapy must be completed at least 30 days prior to registration and the participant must have recovered from all reversible acute toxic effects of the regimen (other than alopecia) to ≤ Grade 1 or baseline. Participants may not undergo concurrent anti-cancer treatment during treatment with protocol therapies. This includes no treatment with growth factors, tyrosine kinase inhibitors, tumor-specific antibodies, or cytotoxic chemotherapies such as cisplatin. Participants who have previously or are currently taking an anti-PD-1 therapy are eligible for this study if they meet eligibility criteria 2. Participants who have previously taken any other immune checkpoint inhibitor are eligible as long as they have completed that treatment at least 30 days prior to registration and meet all other eligibility criteria.
• Participants with central nervous system (CNS) metastases are eligible if the CNS lesions are stable for at least 2 months and if tapered off treatment doses of systemic corticosteroids for at least 2 weeks prior to enrollment on the trial. Management with maintenance physiologic doses of corticosteroids (equivalent doses of prednisone ≤ 10 mg daily) is acceptable.
• Participants must have an "index" tumor that: 1) is deemed by the treating radiation oncologist to potentially benefit from palliative radiation 2) is amenable to biopsy, 3) is ≥ 1 cm in longest dimension.

• Demonstrate adequate organ function as defined in the table below; all screening labs to be obtained within 30 days prior to enrollment

  • White blood cell (WBC) ≥ 3,000/mm3
  • Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) ≥ 1,500/mm3
  • Hemoglobin (Hgb) ≥ 9 g/dL
  • Platelets ≥ 100,000/mm3
  • Serum creatinine ≤ 2.0 mg/dL
  • Total Bilirubin ≤ 2.0 × upper limit of normal (ULN) (< 3.0 for subjects with Gilbert's Syndrome)
  • Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ≤ 3 × ULN
  • Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≤ 3 × ULN
• Females of childbearing potential must have a negative serum pregnancy test within 14 days prior to enrollment and must agree to use effective contraception during active treatment and for 5 months after last dose of pembrolizumab and/or NKTR-214. NOTE: Females are considered of childbearing potential unless they are surgically sterile (have undergone a hysterectomy, bilateral tubal ligation, or bilateral oophorectomy) or they are naturally postmenopausal for ≥ 12 consecutive months.
• As determined by the enrolling physician or protocol designee, ability of the participant to understand and comply with study procedures for the entire length of the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Subjects with significant intercurrent illnesses per physician discretion
• Subjects with active or acute infections or active peptic ulcers, unless these conditions are adequately corrected or controlled, in the opinion of the treating physician

• Subjects with a diagnosed auto-immune disease (exceptions: subjects with controlled diabetes mellitus type I, thyroid disease, rheumatoid arthritis, vitiligo and alopecia areata not requiring treatment with immunosuppressants are eligible)

  • Subjects with a history of diabetes mellitus requiring systemic therapy within the past 3 months (i.e. either oral hypoglycemic agents or insulin) must have a documented Hemoglobin A1c < 8.0 % within 90 days of registration.
• Subjects with known genetic conditions causing pre-disposition to radiotherapy (RT) toxicity (i.e.: Li-Fraumeni, ATM deficiency, active scleroderma, etc.)
• Participants with a prior diagnosis of cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or transient ischemic attack (TIA)
• Pregnant or breastfeeding (NOTE: breast milk cannot be stored for future use while the mother is being treated on study)
• Known additional malignancy that is active and/or progressive requiring treatment; exceptions include basal cell or squamous cell skin cancer, in situ cervical or bladder cancer, or other cancer for which the subject has been disease-free for at least three years prior to enrollment
• Prolonged Fridericia's corrected QT interval (QTcF) > 450 ms for men and > 470 ms for women at time of enrollment
• Subjects with symptoms of ischemic cardiac disease, congestive heart failure, or myocardial infarction within 6 months of registration and/or uncontrolled cardiac rhythm disturbance

• Subjects with a pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, or prior clinically significant venous or non-CVA/TIA arterial thromboembolic event (e.g., internal jugular vein thrombosis) within 3 months prior to enrollment

  • Patients with a history of a venous or arterial thromboembolic event must be asymptomatic prior to enrollment and must be receiving a stable regimen of therapeutic anticoagulation (low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) or direct oral anticoagulation (DOAC)). Use of coumadin is permitted; however, therapeutic dosing should target a specific international normalized ratio (INR) stable for at least 4 weeks prior to enrollment. NKTR-214 has the potential to down-regulate metabolizing enzymes for coumadin for approximately 1 week after administration of each dose of NKTR-214. Due to the possibility of drug-drug interactions between coumadin and NKTR-214, frequent monitoring of INR and ongoing consideration of dose adjustments are warranted throughout the patient's participation on study.
• Subjects with significant psychiatric disabilities or seizure disorders if considered unsafe in the opinion of the treating physician
• Subjects with symptomatic pleural effusions or ascites
• Subjects with organ allografts
• Subjects who require, or are likely to require, systemic treatment doses of corticosteroids, or other immunosuppressive drugs, or have used them within 2 weeks of registration (clarification: subjects receiving physiologic maintenance or replacement doses of systemic steroids or inhaled steroids are eligible)
• Subjects with known human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, active or chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C infection, or with clinical evidence of hepatitis 15. Subjects with known hypersensitivity to IL2 or those who experienced significant immune-related AEs requiring treatment with steroids or other immunosuppressant therapy during prior treatment with ipilimumab, or anti- PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint blockade therapy 16. Subjects who cannot provide independent, legal, informed consent

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: NKTR-214, anti-PD therapy plus Palliative Radiation; Cycle 1 consists of anti-PD-1 therapy (200mg) and NKTR-214 (0.006 mg/kg3 administered intravenously), followed by palliative radiation (8 Gy x 3 or 4 Gy x 5 fractions) combined with anti-PD-1 therapy and NKTR-214 in cycle 2. In subsequent cycles participants will receive NKTR-214 and anti-PD-1.

Drug: NKTR-214; Bempegaldesleukin (NKTR-214) is an immunotherapeutic protein prodrug specifically designed to activate the patient's immune system for the treatment of cancer by providing a controlled, sustained signal to the interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor pathway (pharmacological classification: immunostimulatory interleukin cytokine); Other Names: bempegaldesleukin; Drug: anti-PD-1 therapy; immunotherapy drug, monoclonal antibody; Other Names: Pembrolizumab; Radiation: Palliative Radiation; radiation to relieve symptoms

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Objective Response Rate (ORR)	ORR is the percentage of participants whose cancer shrinks or disappears after treatment. ORR will include confirmed complete response (CR) + confirmed partial response (PR) and will be determined as per RECIST1.1, by investigator assessment.	up to 7 months (at Standard-of-care imaging 3 to 6 months after Cycle 1)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Participants With Adverse Events Greater Than or Equal to Grade 3	Toxicities ≥ Grade 3 is defined by the NCI Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5.0. Toxicities not "unrelated" to treatment, will be considered treatment-related. Adverse events are evaluated by the physician graded from 1-5 where 1 = mild, 2 = moderate, 3 = severe, 4 = life threatening, and 5 = death.	up to 14 months (study terminated early)
Summary of Adverse Events Greater Than or Equal to Grade 3 by Count of Participants Who Experienced Them	Toxicities ≥ Grade 3 is defined by the NCI Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5.0. Toxicities not "unrelated" to treatment, will be considered treatment-related. Adverse events are evaluated by the physician and graded from 1-5 where 1 = mild, 2 = moderate, 3 = severe, 4 = life threatening, and 5 = death.	up to 14 months (study terminated early)
Progression Free Survival (PFS)	PFS is the average length of time after the start of treatment in which a person is alive, and their cancer does not grow or spread. PFS is defined as the time from day 1 of treatment until the criteria for disease progression is met as defined by RECIST1.1 or death as a result of any cause.	up to 14 months (study terminated early)
Overall Survival (OS)	OS is defined as time from day 1 of treatment until death as a result of any cause.	up to 14 months (study terminated early)
Number of Participants With Clinical Benefit (CB)	CB will include confirmed complete response (CR) + confirmed partial response (PR) + stable disease at ≥ 6 months (SD) and will be determined as per RECIST1.1.	up to 14 months (study terminated early)
Duration of Response	Duration of response is the period measured from the time that measurement criteria are met for complete or partial response (whichever status is recorded first) until the date that recurrent or progressive disease is objectively documented.	up to 14 months (study terminated early)
Health Related Quality of Life as Measured by EORTC QLQ-C30: Global and Functional Sub-Scores	European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) is a measure of health-related quality of life for cancer patients participating in clinical trials. It scores the following domains from 0-100 where higher global or functional scores indicate increased quality of life and higher symptom scores indicate increased symptoms: Global health status (QL2), Physical functioning (PF2), Role functioning (RF2), Emotional functioning (EF), Cognitive functioning (CF), and Social functioning (SF).	Baseline at screening, cycle (C)1 day (D)8 (about 2 weeks on study), C2D8 (about 5 weeks on study), C3D8 (about 8 weeks on study), 30-day post (about 12 weeks on study)
Health Related Quality of Life as Measured by EORTC QLQ-C30: Symptom Sub-Scores	European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) is a measure of health-related quality of life for cancer patients participating in clinical trials. It scores the following domains from 0-100 where higher symptom scores indicate increased symptoms: Fatigue (FA), Nausea and vomiting (NV), Pain (PA), Dyspnea (DY), Insomnia (SL), Appetite loss (AP), Constipation (CO), Diarrhea (DI), Financial difficulties (FI)	Baseline at screening, cycle (C)1 day (D)8 (about 2 weeks on study), C2D8 (about 5 weeks on study), C3D8 (about 8 weeks on study), 30-day post (about 12 weeks on study)
Health Related Quality of Life as Measured by EORTC QLQ-H&N35 Sub-Scores	European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life Questionnaire - Head and Neck (EORTC QLQ-H&N35) is comprised of the following subscales, scored from 0-100 where higher scores indicate increased symptoms: Pain (HNPA), Swallowing (HNSW), Senses problem (HNSE), Speech problems (HNSP), Trouble with social eating (HNSO), Trouble with social contact (HNSC), Less sexuality (HNSX), Teeth (HNTE), Opening mouth (HNOM), Dry mouth (HNDR), Sticky saliva (HNSS), Coughing (HNCO), Felt ill (HNFI), pain killers (HNPK), Nutritional supplements (HNNU), Feeding tube (HNFE), Weight loss (HNFL), Weight gain (HNWG)	Baseline at screening, cycle (C)1 day (D)8 (about 2 weeks on study), C2D8 (about 5 weeks on study), C3D8 (about 8 weeks on study), 30-day post (about 12 weeks on study)
Health Related Quality of Life as Measured by EQ-5D Participant Counts	The EQ-5D is a 5 question measure of mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression plus an overall measure of health reported on a visual analog scale. Participant counts are reported for each of 5 dimensions: mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain / discomfort, anxiety / depression.	Baseline at screening, cycle (C)1 day (D)8 (about 2 weeks on study), C2D8 (about 5 weeks on study), C3D8 (about 8 weeks on study), 30-day post (about 12 weeks on study)

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Expression of PD-L1 by Histology	PD-L1 expression has been shown to predict response to immunotherapy regimens. If PD-L1 expression correlates with outcome, it could be used in the future to select patients who have greatest benefit from this regimen.	up to 3 months
Levels of IFN-γ Expressing and CD122+ T Cells in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMC)	Evaluation of the in vivo immune response will help better define the mechanism of action of this combination therapy.	up to 5 years
Diversity and Clonality of the T Cell Receptor Repertoire by Deep Sequencing of PBMC	Evaluation of the in vivo immune response will help better define the mechanism of action of this combination therapy.	up to 5 years
Levels of Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes by Histology	Evaluation of the in vivo immune response will help better define the mechanism of action of this combination therapy.	up to 3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Wisconsin, Madison
• Collaborators: Nektar Therapeutics
• Investigators: Study Chair: Zachary Morris, MD, PhD, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Study Chair: Paul Harari, MD, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Principal Investigator: Adam Burr, MD, PhD, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Principal Investigator: Justine Bruce, MD, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 5, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 4, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): October 4, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 10, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 15, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): June 23, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 4, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 6, 2024
• Last Verified: March 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Carcinoma; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Neoplasms, Squamous Cell; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Antineoplastic Agents; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors; Pembrolizumab
• Other Study ID Numbers: UW20092; A533300 (Other Identifier: UW Madison); SMPH/HUMAN ONCOLOGY (Other Identifier: UW Madison); Protocol Version 4/19/2021 (Other Identifier: UW Madison); 2021-0141 (Other Identifier: Health Science IRB)

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