ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT06821997Updated Sep 21, 2026

NALIRIFOX Before Surgery for the Treatment of Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, Nectar Trial

A Phase 2 interventional study of Biospecimen Collection and Computed Tomography in Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, sponsored by Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-21.

Sponsored by Roswell Park Cancer Institute · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Mar 2026; still recruiting 8 months later.
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
20
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This phase II trial tests how well liposomal irinotecan, oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin (NALIRIFOX) before surgery works in treating patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma that is close to major blood vessels, but is still potentially removable by surgery (borderline resectable). Irinotecan is in a class of antineoplastic medications called topoisomerase I inhibitors. It blocks a certain enzyme needed for cell division and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) repair and may kill tumor cells. Liposomal irinotecan is a form of the anticancer drug irinotecan that is contained inside very tiny, fat-like particles. Liposomal irinotecan may have fewer side effects and work better than other forms of the drug. Oxaliplatin is in a class of medications called platinum-containing antineoplastic agents. It damages the cell's DNA and may kill tumor cells. 5-fluorouracil, a type of antimetabolite, stops cells from making DNA and it may kill tumor cells. Leucovorin, a form of folic acid, is used to lessen the toxic effects of substances that block the action of folic acid. It is a type of chemoprotective agent and a type of chemosensitizing agent. Giving NALIRIFOX before surgery may improve the chance of successful surgery and decrease the chance of the cancer returning after surgery in patients with borderline resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Read the detailed description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

I. To determine the antitumor efficacy of the combination of irinotecan sucrosofate (liposomal irinotecan), oxaliplatin and infusional fluorouracil (5-fluorouracil)/leucovorin calcium (leucovorin) (NALIRIFOX) in patients with borderline resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To evaluate clinical efficacy and tolerability of the proposed treatment regimen.

II. To determine the safety of liposomal irinotecan, oxaliplatin and infusional fluorouracil in patients with borderline resectable pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVES:

I. To evaluate blood-based biomarkers predictive of short- and long-term outcomes.

II. To generate tumor tissue-based biomarkers predictive of short- and long-term outcomes.

OUTLINE:

Patients receive liposomal irinotecan intravenously (IV) over 90 minutes, oxaliplatin IV over 120 minutes, leucovorin IV over 30 minutes and fluorouracil IV over 48 hours on day 1 of each cycle. Cycles repeat every 14 days for 4-8 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients undergo surgical resection 4-8 weeks after the last treatment dose. Starting 4-12 weeks after surgery, patients receive liposomal irinotecan, oxaliplatin, leucovorin, and fluorouracil for up to 4 additional cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Additionally, patients undergo computed tomography (CT) and blood sample collection throughout the study.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up within 30 days, every 3-6 months for 2 years, then every 6-12 months for up to 5 years.

02

Conditions studied

  • Borderline Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Roswell Park Cancer Institute is the lead sponsor of 419 studies on the registry; 65 are open to participants now.

Of its 38 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 21 (55%) have results posted.

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

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

  • Age ≥ 18 old
  • Have or cytologically confirmed pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) that is borderline resectable (BR) using the National Comprehensive Cancer Network criteria
  • Have a documented (ECOG) performance status of ≤ 1
  • (ANC) ≥ 1,500 cells/uL without the use of hematopoietic growth factors
  • count ≥ 100,000 cells/uL
  • ≥ 9 g/dL
  • Plasma total ≤ (ULN) (biliary drainage is allowed for biliary obstruction)
  • (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≤ 2.5 x ULN
  • Creatine clearance of > 30 mL/min (per Cockroft-Gault equation)
  • Plasma albumin ≥ 3 g/dL
  • Have measurable or evaluable disease per (RECIST) 1.1 criteria
  • Participants of must agree to use adequate methods (e.g., hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry. Should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while she or her partner is participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately
  • Participant must understand the nature of this study and sign an independent ethics committee/institutional review board approved written form (ICF) prior to receiving any study related procedure

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who have had previous chemotherapy or radiotherapy for PDAC
  • Patients with resectable, unresectable, or PDAC
  • Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements
  • Pregnant or nursing female participants
  • Unwilling or unable to follow protocol requirements
  • Any condition which in the investigator's opinion deems the participant an unsuitable candidate to receive study drug
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(14)

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Metastases

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

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
20 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Treatment (NALIRIFOX)

    Patients receive liposomal irinotecan IV over 90 minutes, oxaliplatin IV over 120 minutes, leucovorin IV over 30 minutes and fluorouracil IV over 48 hours on day 1 of each cycle. Cycles repeat every 14 days for 4-8 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients undergo surgical resection 4-8 weeks after the last treatment dose. Starting 4-12 weeks after surgery, patients receive liposomal irinotecan, oxaliplatin, leucovorin, and fluorouracil for up to 4 additional cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Additionally, patients undergo CT and blood sample collection throughout the study.

    Procedure: Biospecimen Collection · Procedure: Computed Tomography · Drug: Fluorouracil · Drug: Irinotecan Sucrosofate · Drug: Leucovorin Calcium · Drug: Oxaliplatin · Procedure: Surgical Procedure

Interventions

  • ProcedureBiospecimen Collection

    Undergo blood sample collection

    Also known as: Biological Sample Collection, Biospecimen Collected, Specimen Collection

  • ProcedureComputed Tomography

    Undergo CT

    Also known as: CAT, CAT Scan, Computed Axial Tomography, Computerized Axial Tomography, Computerized axial tomography (procedure), Computerized Tomography, Computerized Tomography (CT) scan, CT, CT Scan, tomography

  • Given IV

    Also known as: 5 Fluorouracil, 5 Fluorouracilum, 5 FU, 5-Fluoro-2,4(1H, 3H)-pyrimidinedione, 5-Fluorouracil, 5-Fluracil, 5-Fu, 5FU, AccuSite, Carac, Fluoro Uracil, Fluouracil, Flurablastin, Fluracedyl, Fluracil, Fluril, Fluroblastin, Ribofluor, Ro 2-9757, Ro-2-9757

  • Given IV

    Also known as: inotecan Hydrochloride as Sucrosulfate Salt Form Liposomal Formulation, Irinotecan Liposome, Irinotecan Sucrosofate Liposome, Irinotecan Sucrosofate-containing Pegylated Liposomal Formulation, MM 398, MM-398, MM398, nal-IRI, Nanoliposomal Irinotecan, Nanoliposomal Irinotecan as Sucrosofate, Nanoparticle Liposome Formulation of Irinotecan, Onivyde, PEP 02, PEP-02, PEP02

  • Given IV

    Also known as: Adinepar, Calcifolin, Calcium (6S)-Folinate, Calcium Folinate, Calcium Leucovorin, Calfolex, Calinat, Cehafolin, Citofolin, Citrec, Citrovorum Factor, Cromatonbic Folinico, Dalisol, Disintox, Divical, Ecofol, Emovis, Factor, Citrovorum, Flynoken A, Folaren, Folaxin, FOLI-cell, Foliben, Folidan, Folidar, Folinac, Folinate Calcium, folinic acid, Folinic Acid Calcium Salt Pentahydrate, Folinoral, Folinvit, Foliplus, Folix, Imo, Lederfolat, Lederfolin, Leucosar, leucovorin, Rescufolin, Rescuvolin, Tonofolin, Wellcovorin

  • Given IV

    Also known as: 1-OHP, Ai Heng, Aiheng, Dacotin, Dacplat, Diaminocyclohexane Oxalatoplatinum, Eloxatin, Eloxatine, Elplat, JM 83, JM-83, JM83, Oxalatoplatin, Oxalatoplatinum, RP 54780, RP-54780, RP54780, SR 96669, SR-96669, SR96669

  • ProcedureSurgical Procedure

    Undergo surgical resection

    Also known as: Operation, Surgery, Surgery Type, Surgery, NOS, Surgical, Surgical Intervention, Surgical Interventions, Surgical Procedures, Type of Surgery

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Major pathologic response (MPR)

    MPR will be defined as either complete pathologic response or minimal residual cancer based on the American College of Pathology system. The MPR status will be summarized using frequencies and relative frequencies.

    Time frame: Up to 5 years

Secondary outcomes

  1. Objective response rate (ORR)

    Will be assessed using Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors 1.1. ORR will be summarized using frequencies and relative frequencies. Estimates of rates will be obtained with 90% credible regions obtained by Jeffrey's prior method.

    Time frame: Up to 5 years

  2. CA19-9 response rate

    Will be summarized using frequencies and relative frequencies. Estimates of rates will be obtained with 90% credible regions obtained by Jeffrey's prior method.

    Time frame: Up to 5 years

  3. Carcinoembryonic antigen response rate

    Will be summarized using frequencies and relative frequencies. Estimates of rates will be obtained with 90% credible regions obtained by Jeffrey's prior method

    Time frame: Up to 5 years

  4. Positive margin resection rate

    Will be summarized using frequencies and relative frequencies. Estimates of rates will be obtained with 90% credible regions obtained by Jeffrey's prior method

    Time frame: Up to 5 years

  5. Disease-free survival

    Will be summarized using standard Kaplan-Meier methods, where estimates of the median times will be obtained with 90% confidence intervals.

    Time frame: From start of neoadjuvant therapy until disease progression, subsequent therapy, death due to any cause, or last follow-up, assessed up to 5 years

  6. Overall survival

    Will be summarized using standard Kaplan-Meier methods, where estimates of the median times will be obtained with 90% confidence intervals

    Time frame: From start of neoadjuvant therapy until death due to any cause, or last follow-up, assessed up to 5 years

  7. Incidence of adverse events

    Will be described and graded using National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0. Will be summarized by attribution and grade using frequencies and relative frequencies.

    Time frame: Up to 30 days after the last intervention, or until the event has resolved, the study participant is lost to follow-up, the start of a new treatment, or until the study investigator assesses the event(s) as stable or irreversible

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Started Mar 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Mar 2027, 11 months after the start.

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

Registered
Feb 6, 2025
First posted
Feb 12, 2025
StartActual
Mar 2, 2026
Primary completionEst.
Mar 1, 2027
CompletionEst.
Mar 1, 2027
Last update
Sep 21, 2026
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 Sep 21, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06821997
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Feb 12, 2025
Start date
Mar 2, 2026
Primary completion
Mar 1, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Mar 1, 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 21, 2026

Study contacts

Christos Fountzilas
principal investigator · Roswell Park Cancer Institute

Oversight

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

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Studies of the drugs tested here: Fluorouracil · Irinotecan sucrosofate · Leucovorin · Oxaliplatin

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