Carmustine Wafer in Combination With Retifanlimab and Radiation With/Without Temozolomide in Subjects With Glioblastoma

A Randomized, Open-label Pilot Trial to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Carmustine Wafer in Combination With Retifanlimab and Standard Radiation With or Without Temozolomide in Newly-Diagnosed Adult Subjects With Glioblastoma

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the safety and survival of carmustine wafers and radiation and retifanlimab with or without temozolomide (TMZ) in newly-diagnosed adult subjects with glioblastoma multiform after carmustine wafer placement.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Glioblastoma Multiforme
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Retifanlimab; Radiation: Radiation Therapy; Drug: Temozolomide

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 50
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Lawrence Kleinberg, MD; Phone Number: 410-614-2597; Email: kleinla@jhmi.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Ipshita Faldu; Phone Number: 667-306-8336; Email: ifaldu1@jhu.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Maryland
    • Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21287
      • Recruiting
      • Johns Hopkins Medical Institution
      • Contact: Stella Krawiec, MA; Phone Number: 410-502-1962; Email: skrawie1@jhmi.edu
      • Contact: Lawrence Kleinberg, MD; Phone Number: 410-614-2597; Email: kleinla@jhmi.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 100 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Newly-diagnosed adults with WHO (World Health Organization) Grade IV Glioblastoma or gliosarcoma based on histopathological or molecular criteria who had carmustine wafers placed at resection
• No prior treatment for GBM other than surgical resection and carmustine wafer placement (Patients who had a biopsy prior to resection are allowed)
• Post-operative MRI or CT scan within 72 hours (preferably 24 hours) of surgical resection
• Substantial recovery from surgical resection
• On a stable or decreasing dose of steroids
• Karnofsky Performance Status of ≥ 60
• Clinically appropriate for concomitant temozolomide plus radiation therapy (RT) based on institutional guidelines
• Age ≥18 years
• Ensure that pregnant or lactating females are not enrolled and that contraceptive requirements are in accordance with applicable and recent requirements.
• Men must agree to take appropriate precautions to avoid fathering children (with at least 99% certainty) from screening through 180 days after the last dose of retifanlimab
• Must have normal organ and marrow function on routine laboratory tests
• Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document
• Subjects must be willing and able to comply with scheduled visits, treatment schedule, study procedures, and other requirements of the study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Recurrent glioblastoma (GBM) or progression of lower grade tumor
• Central nervous system (CNS) hemorrhage of Grade > 1 on baseline MRI scan, unless subsequently documented to have resolved
• Any known metastatic extracranial or leptomeningeal disease
• Intent to use other anti-neoplastic medications/treatments including the Optune® device
• Any serious or uncontrolled medical disorder that, in the opinion of the investigator, may increase the risk associated with study participation or study drug administration, impair the ability of the subject to receive protocol therapy, or interfere with the interpretation of study results
• Prior treatment with an anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, anti-PD-L2, anti-CD137, anti-CTLA-4 antibody or any other antibody or drug specifically targeting T-cell co-stimulation or immune checkpoint pathways
• Active, known or suspected autoimmune disease, with the following exceptions: Subjects with type I diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism only requiring hormone replacement, skin disorders (such as vitiligo, psoriasis or alopecia) not requiring systemic treatment (subjects with a history of flares requiring systemic treatment are excluded), or other autoimmune conditions not expected to recur in the absence of an external trigger are permitted to enroll
• Subjects with history of life-threatening toxicity, including hypersensitivity reaction, related to prior immunoglobulin treatment for another condition (except those considered unlikely to re-occur, with written approval of study PI) or any other study drug component
• History or evidence upon physical/neurological examination of other central nervous system condition (e.g., seizures, abscess) unrelated to cancer, unless adequately controlled by medication or considered not potentially interfering with protocol treatment
• Surgical procedure < 7 days prior to study treatment (No restriction for insertion of a central venous access device)
• Unable to swallow oral medication or any gastrointestinal disease or surgical procedure that may seriously impact the absorption of temozolomide
• Prior malignancy active within the previous 3 years except for locally curable cancers that have been apparently cured, such as basal or squamous cell skin cancer, totally excised melanoma of stage IIA or lower, low or intermediate-grade localized prostate cancer (Gleason score ≤ 7), and curatively-treated carcinoma in situ of the cervix, breast, or bladder.
• Known history of any positive test for hepatitis B virus or hepatitis C virus indicating acute or chronic infection, and/or detectable virus
• Known history of positive test for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or known acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
• Evidence of interstitial lung disease, history of interstitial lung disease, or active, noninfectious pneumonitis.
• Palliative radiation therapy administered within 1 week of first dose of study treatment or radiation therapy in the thoracic region that is > 30 Gy within 6 months of the first dose of study treatment. Note: Participants must have recovered from all radiation-related toxicities (to Grade >1 or baseline), not require corticosteroids for this purpose, and not have had radiation pneumonitis.
• Toxicity of prior therapy that has not recovered to ≤ Grade 1 or baseline (with the exception of any grade of alopecia and anemia not requiring transfusion support).
• Participants with specified abnormal laboratory values at screening

• Active autoimmune disease requiring systemic immunosuppression in excess of physiologic maintenance doses of corticosteroids (> 10 mg/day of prednisone or equivalent).

  • Physiologic corticosteroid replacement therapy at doses ≤ 10 mg/day of prednisone or equivalent for adrenal or pituitary insufficiency and in the absence of active autoimmune disease is permitted.
  • Participants with asthma that requires intermittent use of bronchodilators, inhaled steroids, or local steroid injections may participate.
  • Participants using topical, ocular, intra-articular, or intranasal steroids (with minimal systemic absorption) may participate.
  • Brief courses of corticosteroids for prophylaxis (e.g., contrast dye allergy) or study treatment-related standard premedication is permitted.
• Has an active infection requiring systemic antibiotics or antifungal treatment
• History of organ transplant, including allogeneic stem cell transplantation
• Known allergy or hypersensitivity to any component of retifanlimab or formulation components
• Has received a live vaccine within 28 days of the planned start of study drug (Note: Examples of live vaccines include but are not limited to measles, mumps, rubella, chicken pox/zoster, yellow fever, rabies, Bacillus of Calmette and Guerin (BCG), and typhoid vaccine. Inactivated seasonal influenza vaccines and COVID-19 vaccine(s) are permitted and do not require a 4-week waiting period before starting study treatment; however, intranasal influenza vaccines are live attenuated vaccines and are not allowed.)
• Patients who are taking Probiotic dietary supplements
• Patients with uncontrolled intercurrent illness
• Patients with psychiatric illness/social situations (e.g. prisoners/involuntarily incarcerated individuals) that would limit compliance with study requirements

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Sequential Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Arm A- Retifanlimab and Radiation Therapy; Participants will receive Retifanlimab and Radiation Therapy.	Drug: Retifanlimab; Anti-PD-1 Therapy; Other Names: INCMGA00012; Radiation: Radiation Therapy; Standard of Care
Experimental: Arm B- Retifanlimab, Radiation Therapy and Temozolomide; Participants will receive Retifanlimab, Radiation Therapy and Temozolomide.	Drug: Retifanlimab; Anti-PD-1 Therapy; Other Names: INCMGA00012; Radiation: Radiation Therapy; Standard of Care; Drug: Temozolomide; Anti-PD-1 Therapy
Other: Arm C- Radiation Therapy and Temozolomide; Participants will receive Radiation Therapy and Temozolomide which is the Standard of Care.	Radiation: Radiation Therapy; Standard of Care; Drug: Temozolomide; Anti-PD-1 Therapy

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Safety of combination retifanlimab and radiation with and without temozolomide as assessed by number of participants who experience adverse events	Number of participants who experience grade 1 or higher adverse events, as defined by Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0 (CTCAE v5.0).	Up to 2 years
Feasibility of combination retifanlimab and radiation with and without temozolomide as assessed by number of participants who experience adverse events	Number of participants who experience grade 1 or higher adverse events, as defined by Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0 (CTCAE v5.0).	Up to 2 years
Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD) as determined by number of participants with dose limiting toxicities (DLT)	Maximum tolerated dose will be determined by the maximum dose at which the least number of participants experience dose-limiting toxicity. The dose limiting toxicity is defined using the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE).	Up to 2 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Safety as assessed by number of treatment-emergent adverse events in patients on combination refitanlimab and standard of care (SOC) with newly diagnosed glioblastoma after treatment with carmustine wafers	Number of participants who experience grade 1 or higher adverse events, as defined by Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0 (CTCAE v5.0)	Up to 2 years
Progression Free Survival	Proportion of participants who achieve progression free survival who are treated with retifanlimab with or without temozolomide after carmustine placement	Up to 2 years
Overall Response Rate	Proportion of participants with measurable disease at baseline and have been re-evaluated after at least 1 cycle of therapy with observed reduction in tumor burden as defined by RECIST (Response evaluation criteria in solid tumors) and iRECIST criteria after 2 doses of nivolumab and ipilimumab.	Upt to 2 years
Overall Survival	Proportion of participants who achieve survival with methylated or unmethylated methylguanine-DNA-methyltransferase (MGMT)	Up to 2 years

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Tumor Response as assessed by immune markers in tumor and blood samples	Analyses may include flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry	Up to 2 years
Biomarker assessment in tumor and blood samples	Analyses may include, but not necessarily be limited to, the proportion of T, B, and NK cells, granulocytes, the proportion of memory and effector T cell subsets, and expression levels of PD-1, PD-L1, other B7 family members, ICOS, and Ki67.	Up to 2 years
Microsatellite instability (MSI) assessment	Assess presence or absence of MSI	Up to 2 years
NK cell count	NK cell count in cells/mm^3	Up to 2 years
PD-1 cell	PD-1 cell count in cells/mm^3	Up to 2 years
T cell count	T cell count in cells/mm^3	Up to 2 years
B cell count	B cell count in cells/mm^3	Up to 2 years
PD L-1 count	PD L-1 cell count in cells/mm^3	Up to 2 years
ICOS count	ICOS cell count in cells/mm^3	Up to 2 years
CD4 cell count	CD4 cell count in cells/mm^3	Up to 2 years
CD8 cell count	CD8 cell count in cells/mm^3	Up to 2 years
Ki67 cell count	Ki67 cell count in cells/mm^3	Up to 2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins
• Collaborators: Incyte Corporation
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Lawrence Kleinberg, MD, Johns Hopkins University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 31, 2022
• Primary Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): January 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 6, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 6, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): October 19, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 9, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 7, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Astrocytoma; Glioma; Neoplasms, Neuroepithelial; Neuroectodermal Tumors; Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal; Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue; Glioblastoma; Organic Chemicals; Heterocyclic Compounds, 1-Ring; Heterocyclic Compounds; Therapeutics; Azoles; Dacarbazine; Triazenes; Imidazoles; Temozolomide; Radiotherapy
• Other Study ID Numbers: J21103; IRB00291102 (Other Identifier: JHM IRB)

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