ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT03278665SENSITIZEUpdated Feb 4, 2022

4SC-202 in Combination With Pembrolizumab in Patients Primary Refractory/Non-responding to Prior Anti-PD-1 Therapy

A Phase 1/2 interventional study of 4SC-202 in combination with Pembrolizumab in Malignant Melanoma, sponsored by 4SC AG. Completed at 7 sites in 2 countries. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2022-02-04.

Sponsored by 4SC AG · Phase 1/2, Interventional, and Treatment

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Phase
Phase 1/2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
40
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Where this study stands

Counted across the records on this site · 2026-11-13

Among 87 studies testing pembrolizumab in Melanoma — 20 open to participants now, 41 under way, 7 of them phase 3. pembrolizumab · Melanoma.

Enrollment
55th of 87
40 · median 53
Started
2017
with 7 others
Phase 1/2
8 of 87
3 open now
Registered
35th of 87
by date

Among the 87 studies testing pembrolizumab in Melanoma, this one is the 55th largest by enrollment, is one of 8 that started in 2017, is one of 8 in phase 1/2, and was the 35th registered.

Melanoma

3,370 studies on the registry are indexed under Melanoma; 578 are open to participants now.

Browse Melanoma studies →

Open to participants now

20 of the 87 studies testing pembrolizumab in Melanoma are open now, in 12 countries. Recruiting first, the newest first:

15 more — sign in →

By country, each count listing its studies:

All 20 open studies →

About pembrolizumab

pembrolizumab: first FDA approval 2014 (KEYTRUDA), first EMA approval 2015. What it is approved for, and how studies give it, is on its page →

Who these studies take

Of the 467 Melanoma studies recruiting now, 380 (81%) set no upper age limit and 49 (10%) stop at 75 or younger; 47 take children under 18; 29 take healthy volunteers.

This study: 18 Years and older · all sexes · no healthy volunteers.

The full table on the hub →

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Watch this landscapeDownload CSVNarrow it in search →With an account: a weekly mail of what changed among 87 studies testing pembrolizumab in Melanoma, or all of them as a file.
02

Study summary

Phase Ib/II open-label, multi-center study with a priming cycle of 4SC-202 to evaluate the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of combination treatment with 4SC-202 and Pembrolizumab. A dose expansion cohort at the Recommended Phase Two Dose (RPTD) will be added.

Adult patients with advanced (unresectable or metastatic) cutaneous melanoma primary refractory or non-responding to anti-PD-1 therapy as most current systemic anti-cancer therapy and for whom no standard therapy is available, will be enrolled. The last administration of anti-PD-1 therapy must have been performed within 6 months prior to screening.

03

Conditions studied

  • Malignant Melanoma

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Keywords

  • Cutaneous melanoma
04

Who can participate

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

Eligibility criteria

Main Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with unresectable stage III or stage IV cutaneous melanoma, as per American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) (Version 8) staging system (must have been confirmed at least once during course of disease). Patients with tumor of unknown primary site and histology of melanoma are eligible.
  • Patients must be primary or non-responding to therapy (either as monotherapy or in combination with Ipilimumab)
  • by computer tomography (CT) or Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) per immune-related (irRECIST) 1.1 criteria, with longest diameter for non-nodal lesions ≥ 10 mm and ≥ 15 mm in short axis for nodal lesions
  • At least one tumor site (either primary site or metastasis) must be accessible for sequential and patient must consent to the 2 mandatory biopsies. This requirement is not applicable for continuous dosing schedules and may be waived by the sponsor in other individual cases.

Main Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who achieved a CR or PR, during or after prior anti-PD-1 mono- or anti-CTLA-4/anti-PD-1 combination therapy
  • Patients with symptomatic /central nervous system (CNS) involvement
  • Patients with inadequate organ function
  • Therapy with agents known to prolong the and increase the risk for Torsades de Pointes
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(9)

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.

Relapsed and refractory

Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.

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.

Measurable disease

The amount of disease can be tracked with a defined measurement, so the study can see whether it shrinks or grows. It might be a tumour measured on a scan or, in some blood cancers such as myeloma, a marker measured in blood or urine.

The criteria or the study team say which measurement counts — having no tumour visible on a scan does not by itself rule you out.

RECIST

The standard rules for measuring tumours on CT or MRI scans, to tell whether a cancer is shrinking, stable or growing during treatment.

“Measurable disease per RECIST 1.1” usually means at least one tumour 10 mm or more at its longest on a CT scan, or a lymph node 15 mm or more across its short axis.

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.

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.

QT and QTc

On an ECG, the QT interval is the time the heart’s lower chambers take to activate electrically and recover in each beat. QTc is that time adjusted for heart rate (QTcF by Fridericia’s formula, QTcB by Bazett’s). Some medicines lengthen it, and a long QTc can raise the risk of a dangerous heart rhythm.

The study may name a correction formula and a limit in milliseconds, often around 450–480.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1 / Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
40 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    4SC-202 + Pembrolizumab

    Single arm study of 4SC-202 in combination with Pembrolizumab

    Drug: 4SC-202 in combination with Pembrolizumab

Interventions

  • Drug4SC-202 in combination with Pembrolizumab

    Drug pages: Domatinostat · Pembrolizumab

    4SC-202 in combination with Pembrolizumab

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Incidence of Adverse Events [Safety and Tolerability]

    Safety and tolerability of the combination of 4SC-202 and Pembrolizumab will be assessed from adverse events.

    Time frame: Up to 114 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. Objective Response Rate (ORR)

    The Objective Response Rate (ORR) will be defined as the percentage of patients who have achieved a confirmed response of at least Immune-related Complete Response (irCR) or Immune-related Partial Response (irPR)

    Time frame: Up to 102 weeks

  2. Best Overall Response (BOR)

    The Best Overall Response defined as the best among all confirmed overall responses (irCR is better than irPR is better than irSD)

    Time frame: Up to 102 weeks

  3. Disease Control Rate (DCR)

    The Disease Control Rate (DCR) will be defined as the percentage of patients who have achieved a confirmed response of at least irCR or irPR or a response of irSD

    Time frame: Up to 102 weeks

  4. Duration of Response (DOR)

    Duration of response (DOR) is defined as the time from the first documentation of response to the date of disease progression. Patients who have no documented disease progression at the end of the study or who are lost to follow-up or who receive additional anti-neoplastic therapy after discontinuing 4SC-202 and Pembrolizumab will be censored at the date of their last extent of disease assessment or on the first date of additional therapy, respectively.

    Time frame: Up to 102 weeks

  5. Progression Free Survival (PFS)

    The time from first dosing (C1D1) to date of first observed progression or death from any cause (whichever comes first). Patients who have not progressed while on study and have not died while on study will be censored at the last evaluable assessment date.

    Time frame: Up to 102 weeks

  6. Time to Progression (TTP)

    The time from first dosing (C1D1) to first date of first observed progression. Patients who have not progressed while on study, have not died while on study or experienced a non-disease- related death will be censored at the last evaluable assessment date.

    Time frame: Up to 102 weeks

  7. Overall Survival (OS)

    The Overall Survival (OS) is defined as the time from first dosing (C1D1) to date of death from any cause. Patients who have not died while on study will be censored at the last evaluable assessment date

    Time frame: Up to 102 weeks

07

Study locations

7 sites
  • Universitätsklinikum Essen
    Essen, Germany
  • Medizinische Hochschule Hannover
    Hannover, Germany
  • Universitätsklinikum Heidelberg
    Heidelberg, Germany
  • Klinikum der Universität München
    München, Germany
  • Universitätsklinikum Tübingen
    Tübingen, Germany
  • Universitätsklinikum Würzburg
    Würzburg, Germany
  • Istituto Nazionale Tumori Fondazione "G. Pascale"
    Napoli, Italy
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Ran from Sep 2017 to primary completion in Feb 2022, 52 months.

Of 135 industry-sponsored phase 1/2 interventional studies under Melanoma, half reached primary completion within 61 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 41 and three quarters within 84. This study's 52 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 220 studies reached it within 61 months; a quarter within 42 and three quarters within 85.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Sep 5, 2017
First posted
Sep 12, 2017
StartActual
Sep 25, 2017
Primary completionActual
Feb 2, 2022
CompletionActual
Feb 2, 2022
Last update
Feb 4, 2022
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 4, 2022, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03278665
Lead sponsor
4SC AG
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Sep 12, 2017
Start date
Sep 25, 2017
Primary completion
Feb 2, 2022
Completion
Feb 2, 2022
Last update
Feb 4, 2022

Study contacts

Dirk Schadendorf, MD
principal investigator · Universitätsklinikum Essen

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Feb 2022. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Discussion

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Studies of the drugs tested here: Domatinostat · Pembrolizumab

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