ClinicalTrials.gg
TerminatedNCT02331251Updated Jul 2, 2018

Study of Pembrolizumab Plus Chemotherapy in Patients With Advanced Cancer (PembroPlus)

A Phase 1/2 interventional study of Pembrolizumab and Gemcitabine in Advanced Cancer, Breast Cancer and Sarcoma, sponsored by Western Regional Medical Center. Terminated at 2 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2018-07-02.

Sponsored by Western Regional Medical Center · Phase 1/2, Interventional, and Treatment

Why this study was terminated
PI not longer at site.
Phase
Phase 1/2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
81
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The Phase Ib and II cohorts will enroll patients with metistatic solid tumors.

Phase II only will enroll the following patients:

Patients with metastatic sarcoma to be enrolled in the following 4 arms: pembro plus gemcitabine, pembro plus gemcitabine and docetaxel, pembro plus gemcitabine and vinorelbine, and pembro plus liposomal doxorubicin.

Patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma to be enrolled in the pembro plus gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel arm.

Patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer to be enrolled in the pembro plus irinotecan arm.

Patients with ER+ breast cancer to be enrolled in the pembro and vinorelbine arm.

Patients with ovarian cancer to be enrolled in the pembroplus liposomal doxorubicin arm.

Patients with metastatic TNBC (ER/PR/HER2 negative) to be enrolled in the pembro plus gemcitabine arm.

Read the detailed description

Pembrolizumab 2mg/kg administered intravenously over 30 minutes every 3 weeks.

02

Conditions studied

  • Advanced Cancer
  • Breast Cancer
  • Sarcoma
  • Pancreatic Cancer
  • Small Cell Lung Cancer
  • Ovarian
03

In context

Breast Neoplasms

14,825 studies on the registry are indexed under Breast Neoplasms; 3,319 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 81 is above the median of 72 across 10,896 interventional studies indexed under Breast Neoplasms.

Browse Breast Neoplasms studies →

Lead sponsor

Western Regional Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 23 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.

Of its 6 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 6 (100%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  1. Patient at least 18 years old and has definitive or cytologically confirmed solid tumor 2. Patient has one or more metastatic tumors measurable by CT scan (or PET/CT, if patient is allergic to CT contrast media) 3. The investigator will select the appropriate treatment arm for the patient with the following requirements: (a) Patients cannot have had prior progression or intolerance on the single agent chemotherapy and then enrolled on an arm with that same single agent chemotherapy plus pembro (b) The chemotherapy on the arm selected must be considered standard of care or listed in the NCCN guidelines (www.nccn.org) for that cancer type 4. Have recovered from acute toxicities of prior treatment:
  1. > 3 weeks must have elapsed since receiving any agent
  2. > 2 weeks must have elapsed since receiving any radiotherapy, or ≥ 3 weeks or 5 half-lives whichever is shorter for treatment with cytotoxic or biologic agents (≥ 6 weeks for mitomycin or nitrosoureas). Chronic treatment with non-investigational gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogs or other hormonal or supportive care is permitted 5. Patient has adequate biological parameters as demonstrated by the following blood counts at time of screening: 6. (ANC) > 1500 mm3, count ≥ 100×109 L, ≥ 9 g/dL 7. Serum creatinine ≤2.0, total ≤ 2 mg/dL, /ALT ≤ 5 times the (ULN) range (except: for the nab-paclitaxel containing arm, bilirubin ≤ 1.25 times the ULN and for the docetaxel containing arm, bilirubin must be within institutional normal limits and AST/ALT ≤ 1.5 times the ULN) 8. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) within institutional normal limits. If TSH is above the upper limit of normal range, then a free T4 within institutional normal limits is acceptable 9. Persistent prior systemic therapy non-hematologic AE grade ≥ 2 (except alopecia or correctable electrolyte abnormality with supplementation) 10. Patient has a performance status (KPS) ≥ 70 11. Women of (i.e., women who are pre-menopausal or not surgically sterile) must be willing to use an acceptable method (abstinence, oral contraceptive or double barrier method) for the duration of the study and for 4 months following the last dose of pembrolizumab and 30 days following the last dose of chemotherapy on this trial, and must have a negative urine or serum pregnancy test within 2 weeks prior to beginning treatment on this trial Phase II only

    1. Patients must have metastatic sarcoma to be enrolled in the following 4 arms: pembro plus gemcitabine, pembro plus gemcitabine and docetaxel, pembro plus gemcitabine and vinorelbine, and pembro plus liposomal doxorubicin
    2. Patients must have metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma to be enrolled in the pembro plus gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel arm
    3. Patients must have extensive-stage small cell lung cancer to be enrolled in the pembro plus irinotecan arm

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Active clinically serious infection > (version 4.03) Grade 2.
  2. Serious non-healing wound, ulcer, or bone fracture
  3. Patient has known , unless previously treated and well-controlled for at least 1 month (defined as clinically stable, no edema, no and stable in 2 scans at least 4 weeks apart)
  4. Inability to complete process and adhere to the protocol treatment plan and follow-up requirements
  5. Patient has known active infection with , , or (patients are NOT required to be tested for the presence of such viruses prior to therapy on this protocol)
  6. Requiring daily corticosteroid dose ≥ 10 mg prednisone or equivalent per day
  7. Patient has undergone major surgery, other than diagnostic surgery (e.g., surgery done to obtain a for diagnosis without removal of an organ), within 4 weeks prior to Day 1 of treatment in this study
  8. Patient has a history of allergy or to any of the study drugs or any of their , or the patient exhibits any of the events outlined in the or Special Warnings and Precautions sections of the product or comparator SmPC or Prescribing Information
  9. Patient has serious medical risk factors involving any of the major organ systems, or serious psychiatric disorders, which could compromise the patient's safety or the study data integrity
  10. Patient will be receiving any other anti-cancer therapy during participation in this trial
  11. Prior treatment with pembro. Receipt of other inhibitors or PD-L1 inhibitors is allowed
  12. Active or prior documented disease requiring systemic treatment within the past 2 years Phase II portion only
  1. Patients with a history of more than one primary cancer, with the exception of:
  1. curatively resected nonmelanomatous skin cancer;
  2. curatively treated cervical carcinoma in-situ; or
  3. other primary solid tumor treated with curative intent and no known active disease present and no treatment administered during the 2 years prior to enrollment
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(25)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Histologically or cytologically confirmed

The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).

Your pathology report is the document that shows this.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

Absolute neutrophil count (ANC)

The number of neutrophils, white blood cells that help fight infection, in a given amount of blood. Too few raises the risk of infection.

It is a count, not a percentage of the white cells. Limits are written in units that mean the same: ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L is ≥ 1,500 per mm³ (µL). Each lab has its own reference range.

Platelets

Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.

Hemoglobin (Hb)

The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).

Bilirubin

A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.

Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.

ALT and AST (liver enzymes)

Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.

Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.

ULN (upper limit of normal)

The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.

“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.

Karnofsky performance status (KPS)

A 0–100 scale of how well someone can carry out everyday activities. 100 is no complaints and no signs of illness; 70 is able to look after yourself but not to work or keep up normal activity; 50 is needing considerable help and frequent medical care.

Studies often ask for 60 or 70 and above. Your doctor gives the score.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

CTCAE grade

The US National Cancer Institute’s scale of how severe an adverse event is — any unwanted medical event during a study, such as a symptom, an illness or an abnormal test result, whether or not a treatment caused it. Whether it did is judged separately.

1
Mild.
2
Moderate.
3
Severe.
4
Life-threatening.
5
Death due to the event.

“Side effects of earlier treatment resolved to grade 1 or less” means they have settled to mild or gone.

Brain metastases

Cancer deposits in the brain from a cancer that started elsewhere in the body (CNS metastases include the spinal cord).

Studies differ: some leave out any brain metastases, some accept ones treated and stable for some weeks. Check what this study allows.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

Hepatitis B tests

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.

Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.

Hepatitis C tests

Hepatitis C is a virus that infects the liver. An HCV antibody test can stay positive after an infection has cleared (and is occasionally positive without one); an HCV RNA test shows whether the virus is there now.

After treatment, hepatitis C counts as cured when HCV RNA is still undetectable 12 weeks or more after the treatment ended. Studies often accept people cured this way.

Biopsy and archival tissue

A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.

Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

Excipients

The other ingredients in a medicine besides the active drug, such as fillers, colours or preservatives.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

PD-1, PD-L1 and checkpoint inhibitors

PD-1, PD-L1 and CTLA-4 are proteins that act as brakes on the immune system. Checkpoint inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab or nivolumab, block them so the immune system can attack a cancer.

PD-L1 can also be measured in a tumour sample. Some scores count stained tumour cells only (TPS); others also count certain immune cells (CPS). The study names the score and the minimum it uses.

Autoimmune disease

A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.

Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1 / Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
81 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Arm 1

    Pembrolizumab 2mg/kg administered intravenously over 30 minutes every 3 weeks Gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 on day 1 and day 8 every 21 days

    Drug: Pembrolizumab · Drug: Gemcitabine

  • Experimental
    Arm 2

    Pembrolizumab 2mg/kg administered intravenously over 30 minutes every 3 weeks Gemcitabine 900 mg/m2 on day 1 and 8 and docetaxel 75 mg/m2 on day 8 every 21 days

    Drug: Pembrolizumab · Drug: Gemcitabine · Drug: Docetaxel

  • Experimental
    Arm 3

    Pembrolizumab 2mg/kg administered intravenously over 30 minutes every 3 weeks Gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 and nab-paclitaxel 125 mg/m2 on day 1 and day 8 every 21 days

    Drug: Pembrolizumab · Drug: Gemcitabine · Drug: Nab-paclitaxel

  • Experimental
    Arm 4

    Pembrolizumab 2mg/kg administered intravenously over 30 minutes every 3 weeks Gemcitabine 1000 mg/m2 and vinorelbine 25 mg/m2 on day 1 and day 8 every 21 days

    Drug: Pembrolizumab · Drug: Gemcitabine · Drug: Vinorelbine

  • Experimental
    Arm 5

    Pembrolizumab 2mg/kg administered intravenously over 30 minutes every 3 weeks Irinotecan 300 mg/m2 on day 1 every 21 days

    Drug: Pembrolizumab · Drug: Irinotecan

  • Experimental
    Arm 6

    Pembrolizumab 2mg/kg administered intravenously over 30 minutes every 3 weeks Liposomal doxorubicin 30 mg/m2 on day 1 every 21 days

    Drug: Pembrolizumab · Drug: Liposomal Doxorubicin

Interventions

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Determine the recommended phase 2 dose

    Objective for phase Ib: Determine the recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D) of chemotherapy in combination with pembrolizumab (pembro) in subjects with advanced cancer.

    Time frame: 3 weeks

07

Study locations

2 sites
  • Cancer Treatment Center of America @ Western Regional Medical Center
    Goodyear, Arizona 85338, United States
  • Western Regional Medical Center
    Goodyear, Arizona 85338, United States
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Weiss GJ, Blaydorn L, Beck J, Bornemann-Kolatzki K, Urnovitz H, Schutz E, Khemka V. Phase Ib/II study of gemcitabine, nab-paclitaxel, and pembrolizumab in metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Invest New Drugs. 2018 Feb;36(1):96-102. doi: 10.1007/s10637-017-0525-1. Epub 2017 Nov 8. Erratum In: Invest New Drugs. 2019 Aug;37(4):797. doi: 10.1007/s10637-019-00763-x. PubMed 29119276 ↗
09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jul 2, 2018, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02331251
Lead sponsor
Western Regional Medical Center
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jan 6, 2015
Start date
Dec 2014
Primary completion
Jan 2018
Completion
Jan 2018
Last update
Jul 2, 2018

Study contacts

Ashish Sangal, MD
principal investigator · Western Regional Medical Center

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is terminated, as verified in Jun 2018. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Studies of the drug tested here: Pembrolizumab

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