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Active, not recruitingNCT04416568Updated Jul 1, 2026

Study of Nivolumab and Ipilimumab in Children and Young Adults With INI1-Negative Cancers

A Phase 2 interventional study of Nivolumab and Ipilimumab in Malignant Rhabdoid Tumor, Rhabdoid Tumor of the Kidney and Epithelioid Sarcoma, sponsored by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Active, not recruiting at 8 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 6 Months to 40 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-07-01.

Sponsored by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
30
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
6 Months to 40 Years
Sex
All
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Study summary

This clinical trial is studying two immunotherapy drugs (nivolumab and ipilimumab) given together as a possible treatment for INI1-negative tumors.

Read the detailed description

This research study is a Phase II clinical trial, which tests the safety and effectiveness of an investigational drug or drug combination to learn whether the drug or drug combination works in treating a specific disease. "Investigational" means that the drug combination is being studied.

The names of the study drugs involved in this study are:

  • Nivolumab (OPDIVO)
  • Ipilimumab (YERYOY)

This trial is studying whether nivolumab and ipilimumab work to treat INI1-negative cancers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved combination nivolumab and ipilimumab for the specific diseases in this study but it has been approved for other diseases. Nivolumab and ipilimumab have been tested in children to find out a safe dose of this combination.

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Conditions studied

  • Malignant Rhabdoid Tumor
  • Rhabdoid Tumor of the Kidney
  • Epithelioid Sarcoma
  • Chordoma (Poorly Differentiated or De-differentiated)
  • Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor
  • Other INI1 Negative Tumors (With PI Approval)
  • Other SMARCA4-deficient Malignant Tumors (With PI Approval)

Keywords

  • Malignant Rhabdoid Tumor
  • Rhabdoid Tumor of the Kidney
  • Epithelioid Sarcoma
  • Chordoma (poorly differentiated or de-differentiated)
  • Atypical Teratoid/Rhabdoid Tumor
  • INI1 negative tumors
  • SMARCA4-deficient malignant tumors
03

In context

Rhabdoid Tumor

99 studies on the registry are indexed under Rhabdoid Tumor; 23 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 30 is close to the median of 29 across 83 interventional studies indexed under Rhabdoid Tumor.

Browse Rhabdoid Tumor studies →

Lead sponsor

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is the lead sponsor of 813 studies on the registry; 124 are open to participants now.

Of its 113 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 77 (68%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
6 Months to 40 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • All participants must have one of the following histologically confirmed tumors at original diagnosis or relapse:

    • Stratum 1

      • Malignant rhabdoid tumor (MRT)
      • Rhabdoid tumor of the kidney (RTK)
      • Epithelioid sarcoma
      • Chordoma (poorly differentiated or de-differentiated)
      • Other INI1-negative or SMARCA4-deficient malignant tumors (with PI approval)
    • Stratum 2

      • Atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor (ATRT)
      • Other INI1-negative or SMARCA4-deficient primary CNS malignant tumors (with PI approval)
  • All participants must have tumor assessment at original diagnosis or relapse showing the following:

    • Loss of INI1 confirmed by immunohistochemistry (IHC), OR
    • Molecular confirmation of tumor bi-allelic SMARCB1 (INI1) loss or mutation when INI1 IHC is equivocal or unavailable
    • Loss of SMARCA4 confirmed by IHC or molecular confirmation of tumor bi-allelic SMARCA4 loss or mutation when SMARCA4 is equivocal or unavailable
  • Relapsed or refractory disease and no standard treatment options as determined by locally or regionally available standards of care and treating physician's discretion
  • Measurable disease as defined by RECIST v1.1 (Stratum 1) or RANO criteria (Stratum 2)
  • Karnofsky performance status ≥ 50% for participants ≥16 years of age and Lansky performance status ≥ 50% for participants \<16 years of age
  • Participants must have fully recovered from the acute toxic effects of all prior anti-cancer therapy. Participants must meet the following minimum washout periods prior to first day of study treatment:

    • Myelosuppressive chemotherapy: At least 14 days after the last dose of myelosuppressive chemotherapy
    • Radiotherapy

      • At least 14 days after local palliative XRT (small port)
      • At least 90 days must have elapsed after prior TBI, craniospinal XRT or if >50% radiation of pelvis
      • At least 42 days must have elapsed if other substantial BM radiation
      • At least 42 days must have passed since last radionuclide therapy (e.g. samarium or radium)
    • Small molecule biologic therapy: At least 7 days following the last dose of a nonmonoclonal biologic agent
    • Monoclonal antibody: At least 21 days after the last dose
    • Myeloid growth factors: At least 14 days following the last dose of long-acting growth factor (e.g. Neulasta) or 7 days following short-acting growth factor
    • Stem Cell or Autologous T Cell Infusion: At least 42 days must have elapsed after stem cell or autologous T cell infusion
  • Participants must have adequate organ function as defined below

    • Bone Marrow Function

      • Absolute neutrophil count ≥500/uL
      • Platelets ≥50,000/uL and transfusion independent
    • Hepatic Function

      • Total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 x upper limit of normal for age
      • ALT (SGPT) ≤ 3 x upper limit of normal
    • Renal function

      • A serum creatinine within protocol limits based on age/sex. OR
      • Creatinine clearance ≥ 70 mL/min/1.73 m2 for participants with creatinine levels above institutional normal
    • Adequate Pulmonary Function Defined as: no evidence of dyspnea at rest, no exercise intolerance due to pulmonary insufficient and a pulse oximetry > 92% while breathing room air
    • Adequate pancreatic function defined as serum lipase ≤ ULN at baseline
    • Negative B-HCG pregnancy test in females of childbearing potential (must be drawn within 24 hours prior to initial administration of nivolumab)
    • Women of childbearing potential (WOCBP) receiving nivolumab agree to adhere to contraception for a period of 5 months after the last dose of nivolumab. Men receiving nivolumab and who are sexually active with WOCBP will agree to adhere to contraception for a period of 7 months after the last dose of nivolumab.
    • Ability to understand and/or the willingness of the patient (or parent or legally authorized representative, if minor) to provide informed consent using an institutionally approved informed consent procedure.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants who are receiving any other investigational agents.
  • Participants must not be receiving concomitant systemic steroid medications The use of physiologic doses of corticosteroids (up to 5 mg/m2/day prednisone equivalent) may be approved after consultation with the PI (treatment with topical, inhaled or ophthalmic corticosteroid is acceptable)
  • Participants with a known history of HIV, hepatitis B, and/or hepatitis C
  • Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection or any other concurrent disease which in the judgment of the Investigator would make the subject inappropriate for enrollment on this study
  • Has a history of (non-infectious) pneumonitis that required steroids or has current pneumonitis
  • Has active autoimmune disease that has required systemic treatment in the past 12 months, or a documented history of clinically severe autoimmune disease, or a syndrome that requires systemic steroids or immunosuppressive agents. Subjects with vitiligo or resolved childhood asthma/atopy are exceptions. Intermittent use of bronchodilators or local steroid injections are not excluded. 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. Autoimmune diagnoses not listed must be approved by the Principal Investigator.
  • Patients who have received prior solid organ transplantation are not eligible.
  • Pregnancy or Breast-Feeding. Pregnant or breast-feeding women will not be entered on this study due to risks of fetal and teratogenic adverse events as there is yet no available information regarding human fetal or teratogenic toxicities. Pregnancy tests must be obtained in girls who are post-menarchal.
  • Has received prior therapy with an anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, anti-PD-L2 or anti-CTLA4 agent or with an agent directed to another stimulatory or co-inhibitory T-cell receptor (e.g. OX-40, CD137)
  • Participants who have received live / attenuated vaccine within 30 days of first dose of study treatment.
05

Study design

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

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Solid Tumor (Stratum 1)

    * Patients will receive combination therapy with nivolumab at a predetermined dose and ipilimumab at a predetermined dose day 1 of a 21-day cycle for 4 cycles * Starting with cycle 5, patients will receive nivolumab monotherapy at a predetermined dose on day 1 and day 15 of a 28-day cycle * Patients with INI1-negative relapsed or refractory extracranial solid tumors

    Drug: Nivolumab · Drug: Ipilimumab

  • Experimental
    CNS (Stratum 2)

    * Patients will receive combination therapy with nivolumab at a predetermined dose and ipilimumab at a predetermined dose day 1 of a 21-day cycle for 4 cycles * Starting with cycle 5, patients will receive nivolumab monotherapy at a predetermined dose on day 1 and day 15 of a 28-day cycle * Patients with INI1-negative relapsed or refractory CNS tumors

    Drug: Nivolumab · Drug: Ipilimumab

Interventions

  • DrugNivolumab

    Combination Therapy: Nivolumab at predetermined dosage day 1 of a 21-day cycle for 4 cycles. Monotherapy: Starting with cycle 5 nivolumab at predetermined dosage on day 1 and day 15 of a 28-day cycle

    Also known as: OPDIVO

  • DrugIpilimumab

    Combination Therapy: Ipilimumab at predetermined dosage day 1 of a 21-day cycle for 4 cycles

    Also known as: YERYOY

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Objective Overall Response Rate (Stratum 1)

    Based on Response Evaluation in Solid Tumors (RECIST) version 1.1

    Time frame: 12 months

  2. Objective Overall Response Rate (Stratum 2)

    Based on Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) Criteria

    Time frame: 12 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Progression-free survival (PFS)

    Time from study enrollment until the first occurrence of disease progression, relapse or death due to disease

    Time frame: 3 years

  2. Overall survival (OS)

    Time from study enrollment until death from any cause

    Time frame: 3 years

  3. Disease control rate at 12 months

    The proportion of patients who are progression-free at 12 months

    Time frame: 12 Months

  4. Occurrence of toxicities (Grade 3-5 per CTCAE)

    Assessed by National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, version 5.0

    Time frame: 13 months

07

Study locations

8 sites
  • UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital
    San Francisco, California 94158, United States
  • Children's Healthcare of Atlanta-Egleston
    Atlanta, Georgia 30322, United States
  • Children's Healthcare of Atlanta-Scottish Rite
    Atlanta, Georgia 30342, United States
  • Massachusetts General Hospital
    Boston, Massachusetts 02114, United States
  • Boston Children's Hospital
    Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
  • Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
    Boston, Massachusetts 02215, United States
  • Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
  • Texas Children's Hospital
    Houston, Texas 77030, United States
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — The Dana-Farber / Harvard Cancer Center encourages and supports the responsible and ethical sharing of data from clinical trials. De-identified participant data from the final research dataset used in the published manuscript may only be shared under the terms of a Data Use Agreement. Requests may be directed to Sponsor Investigator or designee. The protocol and statistical analysis plan will be made available on Clinicaltrials.gov only as required by federal regulation or as a condition of awards and agreements supporting the research.

Supporting information: Study protocol, Sap, Icf

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jul 1, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04416568
Lead sponsor
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Collaborators
Gateway for Cancer Research
Responsible party
Suzanne Forrest, MD (Sponsor Investigator, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jun 4, 2020
Start date
Aug 14, 2020
Primary completion
Jul 17, 2025
Completion
Jun 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Jul 1, 2026

Study contacts

Suzanne Forrest, MD
principal investigator · Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

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

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