ClinicalTrials.gg
TerminatedNCT04187872TORCHUpdated Dec 27, 2023

LITT and Pembrolizumab in Recurrent Brain Metastasis

A Phase 1 interventional study of LITT + Pembrolizumab in Melanoma, Non-small Cell Lung Carcinoma (NSCLC) and Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC), sponsored by University of Florida. Terminated at 2 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 100 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-12-27.

Sponsored by University of Florida · Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment

Why this study was terminated
Sponsor terminated

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was Dec 2023, 2 years 11 months ago, and no results have been posted to the registry.

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Phase
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
10
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years to 100 Years
Sex
All
01

Where this study stands

Counted across the records on this site · 2026-11-15

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

Enrollment
77th of 87
10 · median 53
Started
2020
with 5 others
Phase 1
18 of 87
1 open now
Registered
49th of 87
by date

Among the 87 studies testing pembrolizumab in Melanoma, this one is the 77th largest by enrollment, is one of 6 that started in 2020, is one of 18 in phase 1, and was the 49th registered.

Melanoma

3,372 studies on the registry are indexed under Melanoma; 580 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 468 Melanoma studies recruiting now, 381 (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 to 100 Years · 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

This is an open-label, historically controlled pilot study investigating the immune effect of Laser Interstitial ThermotHerapy (LITT)+ pembrolizumab in adult patients with a primary cancer approved by the FDA for treatment with an immune-checkpoint inhibitor who have recurrent brain metastasis after prior stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS).

Read the detailed description

Adult patients with a primary cancer approved by the FDA for treatment with an immune-checkpoint inhibitor who have recurrent brain metastasis that have failed stereotactic radiosurgery treatment will be screened. They will sign consent and complete screening procedures. Each patient will be scheduled to undergo biopsy and LITT treatment. Within two weeks of surgery, patients will begin receiving pembrolizumab every three weeks. Pembrolizumab infusions will continue until brain met recurrence per RANO for Brain Mets or up to two years, whichever comes first. Blood samples will be collected for immune monitoring. Tumor tissue will be collected for immune and genomic studies. Approximately 21 patients will be enrolled to accrue 15 evaluable subjects. Patients will be followed for survival data for one year or until death, whichever comes first.

03

Conditions studied

  • Melanoma
  • Non-small Cell Lung Carcinoma (NSCLC)
  • Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC)
  • Small-cell Lung Cancer
  • Head and Neck Squamous Cell Cancer
  • Classical Hodgkin Lymphoma
  • Primary Mediastinal Large B-Cell Lymphoma
  • Urothelial Carcinoma
  • Microsatellite Instability-High Cancer
  • Gastric Cancer
  • Esophageal Cancer
  • Cervical Cancer
  • Hepatocellular Carcinoma
  • Merkel Cell Carcinoma
  • Brain Metastases, Adult

Keywords

  • Recurrent brain metastases
04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 100 Years
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. Histologic confirmation of primary cancer approved by the FDA for treatment with an immune-
  2. At least one lesion has had prior SRS. Each patient's scan must be reviewed by a neurosurgeon or radiation oncologist prior to enrollment.
  3. ≥ 70.
  4. 18 years or older.
  5. Adequate bone marrow and organ function as defined below:

    1. ≥ 1,500/mcL
    2. ≥ 100,000/mcL
    3. ≥ 9 g/dL or ≥ 5.6 mmol/L (transfusion is allowed)
    4. Serum creatinine ≤ 1.5 x IULN OR by Cockcroft-Gault ≥ 60 mL/min for patients with serum creatinine > 1.5 x IULN
    5. Serum total ≤ 1.5 x IULN OR direct bilirubin ≤ IULN for patients with total bilirubin

    i) 1.5 x IULN f) (SGOT) and ALT (SGPT) ≤ 3 x IULN

  6. Candidate for pembrolizumab treatment.
  7. Candidate for LITT treatment:

    1. Metastatic lesions individually measuring 3.5 cm or less
    2. Only lesions that are growing or new will be treated with LITT
    3. Five (5) or less target metastatic lesions that are new or growing
    4. Lesions accessible with a laser probe as determined by the neurosurgeon performing the procedure
    5. Patient able to undergo MRI scans (no incompatible MRI hardware, etc.)
  8. A diagnostic contrast-enhanced MRI of the brain must be performed preoperatively, within 30 days prior to study enrollment.
  9. Participants of childbearing age must use effective :

    a) Women of (WOCBP) must be using a highly effective method of contraception to avoid pregnancy throughout the study and for at least 24 weeks after the last dose of study drug to minimize the risk of pregnancy. Prior to study enrollment, women of childbearing potential must be advised of the importance of avoiding pregnancy during trial participation and the potential risk factors for an unintentional pregnancy. Refer to Section 9.3 for guidance on highly effective contraceptive methods.

    i) WOCBP include any woman who has experienced menarche and who has not undergone successful surgical sterilization (hysterectomy, bilateral tubal ligation or oophorectomy) or who is not . Post-menopause is defined as:

(1) Amenorrhea that has lasted for ≥ 12 consecutive months without another cause, or (2) For women with irregular menstrual periods who are taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT), a documented serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) level of greater than 35 mIU/mL.

b) Males with female partners of childbearing potential must agree to use physician-approved contraceptive methods (e.g., abstinence, condoms, vasectomy) throughout the study and should avoid conceiving children for 24 weeks following the last dose of study drug.

  1. Ability of the patient to understand and willingness to sign an IRB approved written document.
  1. dose equivalent to dexamethasone dose of ≤ 6mg daily at the time of enrollment.

Exclusion criteria

EXCLUSION CRITERIA

  1. Actively participating in another clinical trial on active study treatment; follow-up or observational status is acceptable if more than 2 weeks since last study treatment.
  2. History of immunodeficiency or is receiving any form of therapy within 7 days prior to the first dose of trial treatment (with the exception of daily dexamethasone ≤ 6 mg).
  3. Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection that will no resolve prior to delivery of treatment (LITT), symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, uncontrolled hypertension, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements.
  4. History of active disease requiring systemic treatment within the past 2 years (i.e. with use of disease modifying agents, , or immunosuppressive drugs). Replacement therapy (e.g., thyroxine, insulin, or physiologic corticosteroid replacement therapy for adrenal or pituitary insufficiency, etc.) is not considered a form of systemic treatment. (Note that prior autoimmune diseases at Grade 1 or 2 per v. 4.0 - in the last 2 years that were deemed related to prior use of immunotherapy, will be allowed under this protocol, provided that continuation or subsequent resumption of immunotherapy, regardless of whether systemic treatment had been given, did not result in worsening of signs and symptoms of the aforementioned autoimmune diseases).
  5. Pneumonitis within the past 3 years (Note that patients with a history of pneumonitis in the past 3 years that was not aggravated by immunotherapy including or that has clinically resolved or improved and has not recurred or progressed clinically with subsequent immunotherapy including immune checkpoint inhibitors are eligible to participate in the study).
  6. Pregnant and/or breastfeeding. Women of must have a negative serum or urine pregnancy test at screening.
  7. Females or males of childbearing potential who are unwilling or unable to use an acceptable method to avoid pregnancy for the entire study period and for at least 24 weeks after the last dose of study drug.
  8. Known active (e.g., HBsAg reactive) or (e.g., HCV RNA [qualitative] is detected) infection.
  9. Known history of active TB (bacillus tuberculosis).
  10. Known history of (HIV 1/2 antibodies).
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(20)

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.

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.

Metastases

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Postmenopausal

Periods have stopped for good: usually no period for 12 months in a row without another medical reason, sometimes confirmed by a blood test (FSH).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

05

Study design

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

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Patients with Recurrent Brain Metastes

    Adult patients with a primary cancer approved by the FDA for treatment with an immune-checkpoint inhibitor who have recurrent brain metastasis that have failed SRS treatment will receive LITT per standard of care in combination with Pembrolizumab 200mg IV every 3 weeks (+/-3 days) up to 2 years.

    Combination Product: LITT + Pembrolizumab

Interventions

  • Combination productLITT + Pembrolizumab

    Drug page: Pembrolizumab

    Each patient will undergo brain biopsy and laser interstitial thermotherapy (LITT). As soon as possible, no later than two weeks after LITT, pembrolizumab will be administered via infusion and continue q3wks for up to two years.

    Also known as: NeuroBlate System, Keytruda

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Immune Effect of LITT plus pembrolizumab

    Immune profile of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) as measured by RNA sequencing; analysis will be performed through serial blood draws and will compare each analysis to the patient's baseline prior to treatment.

    Time frame: From first dose pembro through 30 days after administration of pembro

Secondary outcomes

  1. Incidence of Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events [Safety and Tolerability]) of LITT plus pembrolizumab

    Adverse events will be collected for each patient from the first dose of pembrolizumab until end of the study treatment.

    Time frame: From first dose pembro to 30 days post final pembro dose

07

Study locations

2 sites
  • McKnight Brain Institute of the University of Florida
    Gainesville, Florida 32611, United States
  • University of Florida Health
    Jacksonville, Florida 32209, United States
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 reached

Ran from Jan 2020 to primary completion in Dec 2023, 46 months.

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

Registered
Dec 3, 2019
First posted
Dec 5, 2019
StartActual
Jan 10, 2020
Primary completionActual
Dec 1, 2023
CompletionActual
Dec 1, 2023
Last update
Dec 27, 2023
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 Dec 27, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04187872
Collaborators
Monteris Medical
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Dec 5, 2019
Start date
Jan 10, 2020
Primary completion
Dec 1, 2023
Completion
Dec 1, 2023
Last update
Dec 27, 2023

Study contacts

Maryam Rahman, MD
principal investigator · University of Florida

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is terminated, as verified in Dec 2023. 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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