ClinicalTrials.gg
Active, not recruitingNCT03774732NIRVANA-LUNGUpdated Feb 25, 2026

PD-1 Inhibitor and Chemotherapy With Concurrent Irradiation at Varied Tumour Sites in Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

A Phase 3 interventional study of Radiotherapy and Pembrolizumab in Non Small Cell Lung Cancer, Non Small Cell Lung Cancer Metastatic and Non-Small Cell Carcinoma of Lung, TNM Stage 4, sponsored by UNICANCER. Active, not recruiting at 58 sites in 2 countries. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-02-25.

Sponsored by UNICANCER · Phase 3, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 8 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Jan 2018, registered Sep 2018).
Phase
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
327
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Overall survival (OS) of patients with advanced (stage IIIB/IV) non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains short after the first line of treatment with a median OS of 12.2 months in non squamous NSCLC and 9.2 months in squamous NSCLC . In this setting the programmed death 1/ligand 1 (PD-1/-L1) were targeted with nivolumab (IgG4) in advanced squamous and nonsquamous NSCLC leading to an increase of the 1-year OS rate of approximately 10-15% in both histologies. Nivolumab, pembrolizumab and atezolizumab are now considered a standard of care in 2nd line advanced NSCLC and in 1st line for pembrolizumab but but prognosis still remains poor in advanced NSCLC. Overall survival (OS) of patients with advanced (stage III/IV) NSCLC remains limited with a median OS of 12.2 months in non-squamous NSCLC and 9.2 months in squamous NSCLC if anti-PD1 alone. It is of around 16 months if pembrolizumab is combined with chemotherapy.

Preclinical data indicates that anti-tumor efficacy is increased when anti-PD-1/-L1 are combined with irradiation (IR). Radiotherapy alone can elicit tumor cell death which can increase tumor antigen in the blood stream, favoring recognition by the immune system and its activation against tumor cells outside of the radiation field (="abscopal effect").

IR may also reverse acquired resistance to PD-1 blockade immunotherapy by limiting T-cell exhaustion.

Because of these preclinical and clinical data several studies analysing the combination of IR and anti-PD1 in NSCLC are ongoing. Among them, two studies are testing the administration of IR and nivolumab in stage III NSCLC: the NCT02768558 phase III trial (RTOG), and the NCT02434081 phase II trial (ETOP). Antonia et al [2017] tested the use of anti-PD-L1 after chemoradiotherapy in unresectable stage III NSCLC. Median time to distant metastasis was increased (23.2 months vs. 14.6 months, p\<0.001). An increase of OS is consequently expected.

However, no study involving concurrent RT and pembrolizumab combined with chemotherapy in advanced NSCLC is ongoing, which is the purpose of the present study, NIRVANA-Lung.

02

Conditions studied

  • Non Small Cell Lung Cancer
  • Non Small Cell Lung Cancer Metastatic
  • Non-Small Cell Carcinoma of Lung, TNM Stage 4

Keywords

  • NSCLC
  • radiotherapy
  • immunotherapy
  • PD(L)-1 blockage
03

In context

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung

7,620 studies on the registry are indexed under Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung; 1,838 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 327 is above the median of 62 across 6,019 interventional studies indexed under Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung.

Browse Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung studies →

Lead sponsor

UNICANCER is the lead sponsor of 219 studies on the registry; 52 are open to participants now.

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

Eligibility criteria

INCLUSION CRITERIA:

  1. Patient must have signed a written form prior to any study specific procedures
  2. or cytologically confirmed advanced (stage IIIB/IIIC/IV), squamous or non-squamous NSCLC
  3. NSCLC patients eligible for treatment with pembrolizumab and chemotherapy according to the European Marketing Authorization:

    1. squamous: in combination with carboplatin and either paclitaxel or nab-paclitaxel
    2. non squamous with no EGFR or ALK positive mutations: in combination with pemetrexed and a platinum based chemotherapy
  4. Patient ≥18 of age
  5. (ECOG) performance status 0 - 1
  6. >3 months
  7. as assessed by version 1.1
  8. and/or primary tumour eligible for 3 dimensional conventional radiotherapy (3D-CRT) or stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) in terms of dose constraints at organ at risk (according to QUANTEC review)
  9. Patients must have adequate organ function defined by the following laboratory results obtained within 14 days prior to the first study treatment:

    1. of ≥1 500 /mm³
    2. ≥ 100 000/mm³
    3. >9 g/dL (transfusions allowed)
    4. >60 mL/min
    5. ≤1.5 X (ULN) (unless Gilbert's syndrome where 3 X ULN is permitted)
    6. serum (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ≤2.5 X ULN (unless documented liver metastasis where ≤5 X ULN is permitted)
    7. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) ≤2.5 X ULN (unless documented bone or liver metastasis where ≤5 X ULN is permitted)
    8. (INR), prothrombin (PT), and prothrombin time (PTT) ≤1.5 X ULN (unless the subject is receiving anticoagulant therapy)
  10. Woman of and male patients must agree to use adequate for the duration of study participation and up to 6 months after completing treatment/therapy
  11. Patients affiliated to the social security system (or equivalent)
  12. Patient is willing and able to comply with the protocol for the duration of the study including undergoing treatment and scheduled visits, and examinations including follow-up

NON-INCLUSION CRITERIA:

  1. Non-squamous NSCLC with targetable tumor mutations, activating EGFR mutations or ALK translocation Note: documentation of these mutation for non-squamous histology is mandatory as standard of care
  2. Stage IIIB/IIIC NSCLC patient eligible to curative (thoracic radiotherapy or surgery) treatments in treatment
  3. Prior therapy with T-cell costimulation or checkpoint-targeted agents Note: Stage I-III NSCLC who previously received single-agent anti-PD(L)1 immunotherapy and ultimately develop metastases remain eligible (minimal immunotherapy of 3 months)
  4. Clinical need of radiotherapy (e.g.: whole brain irradiation, painful metastasis, bleeding, compressive metastases)
  5. Irradiation within 2 months before inclusion
  6. , or metastases with indistinct borders making targeting not feasible
  7. Patient with evidence of active (presence of symptoms or requiring treatment) central nervous system (CNS) metastases and/or carcinomatous meningitis. Patient with can be included if asymptomatic and not requiring steroids
  8. Metastases located within 3 cm of the previously irradiated structures (EQD2doses):

    1. Spinal cord previously irradiated to >40 Gy;
    2. Brachial plexus previously irradiated to >50 Gy;
    3. Small intestine, large intestine, or stomach previously irradiated to >45 Gy;
    4. Brainstem previously irradiated to >50 Gy;
    5. Lung previously irradiated with prior V20Gy >30%
  9. Active disease except vitiligo, type-1 diabetes, hypothyroid stabilized with hormonal substitution, psoriasis
  10. Symptomatic interstitial lung disease
  11. Systemic or systemic immunosuppressive medicinal products within 2 weeks prior to study entry
  12. Concomitant treatment with steroids > 10 mg Note1: higher dose of steroids can be prescribed in case of occurrence of toxicities during radiotherapy; prophylactic dose of maximum 1 mg per kg during 2 weeks are authorized during the delivery of more than 6 Gy per fraction Note2: temporary use of steroid (less than 4 weeks) at a dose of 1 mg/kg is accepted
  13. Prior invasive within the past 2 years (except non-melanomatous skin cancer non-invasive carcinoma in-situ of the breast, oral cavity, bladder or cervix)
  14. Known Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) or severe uncontrolled co-morbidity
  15. Known currently active infection including and
  16. Patient who was administered a live, attenuated vaccine within 28 days prior to enrolment
  17. Patient with any other disease or illness that requires hospitalisation or is incompatible with the study treatment are not eligible. Patient unable to comply with study obligations for geographic, social, or physical reasons, or who is unable to understand the purpose and procedures of the study
  18. Patient who have taken any medicinal product or have used an investigational device within 30 days of inclusion
  19. Pregnant or breast feeding woman
  20. Person deprived of their liberty or under protective custody or guardianship
  21. If pemetrexed: patient is unable or unwilling to take folic acid or vitamin B12 supplementation
  22. Pre-existing peripheral neuropathy of a severity of grade ≥ 2 by v5.0
  23. Known to one of the compounds or substances used in this protocol
  24. Major surgery within the 28 days before initiating study treatment
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(30)

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.

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.

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.

ECOG performance status

A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.

0
Fully active, no restrictions.
1
Limited in strenuous activity, but walking and able to do light work, such as housework or office work.
2
Walking and able to look after yourself, but unable to work; up and about more than half of waking hours.
3
Able to look after yourself only in part; in bed or a chair more than half of waking hours.
4
Unable to look after yourself at all; in bed or a chair all day.

Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.

Life expectancy

The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.

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.

Metastases

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

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).

Creatinine clearance (CrCl)

How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.

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.

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.

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.

INR, PT and aPTT (clotting tests)

Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.

Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.

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.

Line of therapy

A line of therapy is one course of treatment, which may combine several drugs. First-line is the first course given; second-line follows when that stops working or is not tolerated.

“Two prior lines” means two courses that count separately under the study’s rules — not simply two drugs. Ask the study team if you are unsure how yours are counted.

Washout period

A planned gap after a treatment, so that its effects can lessen before the study treatment or a study assessment. Ask the study team and the doctor who prescribed it before changing any medicine.

Leptomeningeal disease

Cancer that has spread to the leptomeninges, the thin layers covering the brain and spinal cord, and the fluid between them. It is not the same as brain metastases.

Criteria often treat it separately, and many studies leave it out even where treated brain metastases are allowed.

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.

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.

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.

Immunosuppression

A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.

Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

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.

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.

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.

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.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
327 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Pembrolizumab+ Chemotherapy + Radiotherapy

    In the experimental arm, patients will receive the same treatment as the control arm (chemotherapy plus pembrolizumab) in addition with conformal 3D radiotherapy (3D-CRT) or stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) that will be delivered at C2D1, 21 days after the beginning of pembrolizumab using photons/electrons with standard field encompassing tumour. Irradiation technique (3D-CRT or SABR) will be at physician discretion. Ideally, oligometastatic patient (defined by the presence of less than 6 metastases) should be treated with SABR and those with non-oligometastatic disease should be treated with 3D-CRT. Radiotherapy will be delivered a dose of at least 18 Gy in 3 X 6 Gy for 3D-CRT (cf. protocol for possible schemes and volumes restriction). Irradiated tumor size will be ≤5 cm (GTV \<65 mL sphere); partial tumor irradiation should be delivered if larger tumor size while respecting dose constraints.

    Radiation: Radiotherapy · Drug: Pembrolizumab · Drug: Chemotherapy

  • Active comparator
    Pembrolizumab+ Chemotherapy

    Squamous-cell lung carcinoma: Pembrolizumab every 3 weeks and carboplatin + paclitaxel or nab paclitaxel every 3 weeks for 4 cycles then pembrolizumab every 3 or 6 weeks (according to the current version of the SmPC ) Non squamous-cell lung carcinoma: Pembrolizumab every 3 weeks and carboplatin or cisplatin + pemetrexed every 3 weeks for 4 cycles, and then pemetrexed plus pembrolizumab every 3 weeks (according to the current version of the SmPC) Pembrolizumab treatment may be continued as long as patient is experiencing clinical benefit, as assessed by an investigator, in the absence of unacceptable toxicity or symptomatic deterioration attributed to disease progression after an integrated assessment of radiographic data, biopsy results (if available) and clinical status.

    Drug: Pembrolizumab · Drug: Chemotherapy

Interventions

  • RadiationRadiotherapy

    Irradiation technique (3D-CRT or SABR) will be at physician discretion.

    Also known as: 3D-CRT or SABR

  • pembrolizumab will be administered as per standard of care every 3 weeks until progression or toxicity

  • DrugChemotherapy

    for squamous NSCLC carboplatin AUC6, paclitaxel 200 mg/m² every 3 weeks for 4 cycles; for non-squamous NSCLC carboplatin AUC5 or cisplatin 75 mg/m² every 3 weeks for 4 cycles, and pemetrexed 500 mg/m² every 3 weeks until progression or toxicity

    Also known as: Carboplatin, paclitaxel, nab-paclitaxel, cisplatin, pemetrexed

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. 1-year Overall Survival

    The primary endpoint of this trial is overall survival (OS) defined as the time from randomization to the date of documented death from any cause or last follow-up.

    Time frame: 1 year

Secondary outcomes

  1. Tumour response

    Tumour response is defined as the percentage of patients with a complete response (CR) or partial response (PR), according to RECIST 1.1 and iRECIST (centralized response evaluation).

    Time frame: 1 year

  2. Progression-free survival

    Progression-free survival (PFS) is defined as the time from randomization until documented disease progression (PD) according to RECIST 1.1 and iRECIST (centralized response evaluation for both arms), or death, whichever occurs first.

    Time frame: 1 year

  3. Local and distant controls in irradiated patients

    Local and distant controls in irradiated patients are defined as the time from randomization to the first documented local event or distant event.

    Time frame: 6 months and 1 year

  4. Quality of life of the patients using EORTC-QLQ-C 30

    Quality of life will be assessed using QLQ-C 30 questionnaire from the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). It is a 30-item self-reporting questionnaire developed to assess the quality of life of cancer patients. It is grouped into five functional subscales (role, physical, cognitive, emotional and social functioning). In addition, there are three multi-item symptom scales (fatigue, pain, and nausea and vomiting), individual questions concerning common symptoms in cancer patients,and two questions assessing overall Quality of Life

    Time frame: up to 2 years

  5. Acute/Late toxicities

    Acute/ late toxicity will be assessed according to the flowchart and graded by CTCAE v5

    Time frame: 1 year

  6. Non-small lung cancer specific survival

    To evaluate, compared to standard of care, whether the addition of radiotherapy improves survival of patients until death from non-small lung cancer

    Time frame: 1 year

  7. 2-year Overall survival

    Overall survival (OS) is defined as the time from randomization to the date of documented death from any cause or last follow-up.

    Time frame: 2 years

07

Study locations

58 sites
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Doyen J, Besse B, Texier M, Bonnet N, Levy A. PD-1 iNhibitor and chemotherapy with concurrent IRradiation at VAried tumor sites in advanced Non-small cell lung cAncer: the Prospective Randomized Phase 3 NIRVANA-Lung Trial. Clin Lung Cancer. 2022 May;23(3):e252-e256. doi: 10.1016/j.cllc.2021.10.008. Epub 2021 Oct 24. PubMed 34810130 ↗
09

Updates

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

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03774732
Lead sponsor
UNICANCER
Collaborators
National Cancer Institute, France
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Dec 13, 2018
Start date
Jan 24, 2018
Primary completion
Dec 22, 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 22, 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Feb 25, 2026

Study contacts

Jérôme DOYEN, MD
principal investigator · Centre Antoine Lacassagne
Antonin LEVY, MD
principal investigator · Gustave Roussy, Cancer Campus, Grand Paris
Benjamin BESSE, MD
principal investigator · Gustave Roussy, Cancer Campus, Grand Paris

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 active, not recruiting, as verified in Jan 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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