A Phase 2 interventional study of Docetaxel and Pembrolizumab in Metastatic Non-Small Lung Cell Cancer, Recurrent Non-Small Lung Cell Cancer and Stage IV Lung Cancer AJCC v8, sponsored by Emory University. Active, not recruiting at 2 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-24.
Sponsored by Emory University · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment
This phase 2 trial will evaluate the safety and efficacy of combining immunotherapy with a PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor (Pembrolizumab), an anti-VEGF receptor (Ramucirumab), and a taxane chemotherapy (Docetaxel) in treating patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who did not respond to FDA-approved treatments with platinum-based chemotherapy given concurrently or sequentially with anti-PD1/PD-L1 immunotherapy.
Pembrolizumab helps the body's immune system to attack cancer cells and hinder their ability to grow and spread. Ramucirumab blocks new blood vessel growth to reduce tumor growth. Docetaxel works mainly by stopping cancer cells from dividing. Ramucirumab combined with docetaxel is an FDA-approved therapy for NSCLC patients after progression on platinum-based chemotherapy. It has shown to improve efficacy compared to docetaxel alone in this setting. Pembrolizumab is an FDA-approved treatment for NSCLC and can be given alone or in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy.
Investigators hypothesize that the combination of docetaxel, ramucirumab, and pembrolizumab will be safe and more effective than the current standard of care treatments (docetaxel alone or in combination with ramucirumab) in patients with metastatic or recurrent NSCLC after progression on treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy and immunotherapy, given concurrently or sequentially.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:
I. To determine the anti-tumor efficacy of the combination treatment using the 6-month progression free survival rate by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST 1.1).
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:
I. To determine the safety profile and tolerability of docetaxel and ramucirumab in combination with pembrolizumab in patients who progressed on platinum-based chemotherapy and PD-1 or PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor given sequentially or in combination.
II. To determine immune related adverse events of the combination docetaxel, ramucirumab, and pembrolizumab.
III. To assess the overall response rate (ORR) of the combination docetaxel, ramucirumab, and pembrolizumab.
IV. To assess the overall survival (OS) of the combination docetaxel, ramucirumab, and pembrolizumab.
EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVES:
I. To correlate treatment response with PD-L1 22C3 expression, STK11 and KRAS mutation status.
II. To correlate treatment response with the doublet tumor mutation burden (TMB) and PD-L1 22C3 expression.
III. To perform an immunophenotypic analysis of circulating immune cells by mass cytometry before and after treatment and end of treatment (EOT).
IV. To analyze the tumor infiltrating immune cells by mass cytometry coupled to blood mass cytometry, in paired biopsies before and at end of after treatment.
OUTLINE:
After premedication, patients will receive docetaxel intravenously (IV) over 60 minutes, ramucirumab IV over 60 minutes, then pembrolizumab IV over 30 minutes on day 1 of each 21-day cycle. The combination will be administered until confirmed disease progression defined as progression on 2 consecutive scans at least 4 weeks apart, occurrence of severe side effects, withdrawal of consent by the patient or if in the opinion of the treating physician continuing on the study treatment is not in the best interest of the patient.
The first six patients will be evaluated for safety data. If less than 2 patients experience dose limiting toxicity, enrollment on study will continue with the efficacy assessment of the combination.
Participants who experience confirmed disease progression or start a new anticancer therapy, will move into the Survival Follow-Up Phase and should be contacted by telephone every 12 weeks (+/- 3 weeks) for 2 years, then every 6 months for next 3 years, then annually until the subject's death or until the subject is lost to follow-up up to 10 years to assess for survival status until death, withdrawal of consent, or the end of the trial, whichever occurs first.
7,243 studies on the registry are indexed under Lung Neoplasms; 1,558 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 30 is below the median of 60 across 5,296 interventional studies indexed under Lung Neoplasms.
Browse Lung Neoplasms studies →Emory University is the lead sponsor of 1,386 studies on the registry; 236 are open to participants now.
Of its 229 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 174 (76%) have results posted.
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A female participant is eligible to participate if she is not pregnant, not breastfeeding, and at least one of the following conditions applies:
Hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dL or ≥ 5.6 mmol/L (collected within 10 days prior to the start of study treatment)
Creatinine ≤ 1.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN) OR measured or calculated creatinine clearance (glomerular filtration rate [GFR] can also be used in place of creatinine or creatinine clearance [CrCl]) ≥ 30 mL/min for participant with creatinine levels > 1.5 x institutional ULN (collected within 10 days prior to the start of study treatment)
Exclusion Criteria:
Has received prior systemic anti-cancer therapy including investigational agents within 4 weeks or 5 times the half-life time, whichever is shorter [could consider shorter interval for kinase inhibitors or other short half-life drugs] prior to allocation
Is currently participating in or has participated in a study of an investigational agent or has used an investigational device within 4 weeks prior to the first dose of study treatment
Patients receive docetaxel IV over 60 minutes, ramucirumab IV over 60 minutes, and pembrolizumab IV over 30 minutes on day 1. Cycles repeat every 21 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.
Drug: Docetaxel · Biological: Pembrolizumab · Biological: Ramucirumab
Given IV
Also known as: Docecad, RP56976, Taxotere, Taxotere Injection Concentrate
Given IV
Also known as: Keytruda, Lambrolizumab, MK-3475, SCH 900475
Given IV
Also known as: Anti-VEGFR-2 Fully Human Monoclonal Antibody IMC-1121B, Cyramza, IMC-1121B, LY3009806, Monoclonal Antibody HGS-ETR2
6-month progression-free survival (PFS) rate
Will be determined by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) 1.1. Will be reported and its 95% confidence intervals will be estimated using the Clopper-Pearson method. PFS rates of two patient groups stratified by binary biomarker (PD-L1 and KRAS status), respectively will be estimated with the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test, respectively. Cox proportional hazards models will be further used in the multivariable analyses to assess adjusted effect of PD-L1 and KRAS status on the patients' PFS after adjusting for other factors. Interaction terms between these factors will also be tested for statistical significance. The proportional hazards assumption will be evaluated graphically and analytically with regression diagnostics. Violations of the proportional hazards assumptions will be addressed by use of time-dependent covariates or extended Cox regression models.
Time frame: up to 6 months
Incidence of adverse events
Will be evaluated according to National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0. Overall toxicity incidence as well as toxicity profiles will be explored and summarized. Frequency distributions, graphical techniques and other descriptive measures will form the basis of these analyses. Proportion of acute and late toxicity will be reported, and 95% confidence intervals will be estimated using the Clopper-Pearson method.
Time frame: Up to 30 days after the last dose of study treatment
Overall response rate
Will be determined per RECIST 1.1 and immune-modified Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors.
Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year
Overall survival (OS)
OS and rates of two patient groups stratified by binary biomarker (PD-L1 and KRAS status), respectively will be estimated with the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test, respectively. Cox proportional hazards models will be further used in the multivariable analyses to assess adjusted effect of PD-L1 and KRAS status on the patients' OS after adjusting for other factors. Interaction terms between these factors will also be tested for statistical significance. The proportional hazards assumption will be evaluated graphically and analytically with regression diagnostics. Violations of the proportional hazards assumptions will be addressed by use of time-dependent covariates or extended Cox regression models.
Time frame: up to 10 years
Documents are hosted by the registry — open the source record to download them.
Plan to share: No — Results of the trial and not individual patient data will be shared. The study protocol, consent, and investigator's brochure will be available. The statistical plan is incorporated into the protocol, along with inclusion and exclusion criteria.
This study is active, not recruiting, as verified in Sep 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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