ClinicalTrials.gg
Not yet recruitingNCT07618793Updated Jun 1, 2026

Intermittent Hypoxic Training as Neoadjuvant Therapy for Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma

A Phase 2 interventional study of Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT) and Standard Neoadjuvant Chemo-immunotherapy in Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung (NSCLC), sponsored by zhang yi. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in China. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 75 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-06-01.

Sponsored by zhang yi · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
60
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 75 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if adding intermittent hypoxic training (IHT) to standard neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy can increase the pathologic complete response (pCR) rate in patients aged 18 to 75 of both sexes with resectable stage II-IIIA lung squamous cell carcinoma. The main questions it aims to answer are:Can the addition of IHT to standard neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy significantly improve the pathologic complete response (pCR) rate compared to standard therapy alone? Is IHT safe and well-tolerated in this perioperative setting, and can it improve 2-year recurrence-free survival (RFS) without increasing complications? Researchers will compare the experimental group (standard neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy combined with IHT) to the control group (standard neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy alone) to see if the combination safely enhances anti-tumor immune responses, improves tumor regression, and extends long-term survival. Participants will:Receive standard neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy for 4 cycles (21 days per cycle), consisting of nab-paclitaxel, carboplatin, and pembrolizumab. Undergo Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT) if randomized to the experimental group, using the FLY-2265 low oxygen system (13% $FiO_2$ for 5 minutes followed by 21% $FiO_2$ for 5 minutes per cycle; 10 cycles per session, twice daily) for 7 consecutive days starting on Day 1 of each chemo-immunotherapy cycle. Undergo surgery (VATS lobectomy and systematic lymph node dissection) 3 to 4 weeks after the completion of the 4th cycle, provided that the disease has not progressed. Complete regular post-operative follow-up visits (including chest CT scans, brain MRIs, bone scans, tumor markers, and peripheral blood immune monitoring) for up to 5 years to evaluate long-term outcomes.

02

Conditions studied

  • Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung (NSCLC)

Keywords

  • Lung Squamous Cell Carcinoma
  • Intermittent Hypoxic Training
  • Neoadjuvant Chemoimmunotherapy
  • CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes
  • Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer
  • Pathologic Complete Response
03

In context

Carcinoma

736 studies on the registry are indexed under Carcinoma; 149 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 60 is above the median of 49 across 571 interventional studies indexed under Carcinoma.

Browse Carcinoma studies →

Lead sponsor

This is the only study on the registry with zhang yi as lead sponsor.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 75 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. Age between 18 and 75 years old (inclusive), regardless of sex.
  2. Diagnosed with confirmed stage II-IIIA (according to the AJCC 8th edition staging system) squamous cell lung carcinoma.
  3. The primary tumor is evaluated by a multidisciplinary team (MDT) and deemed completely resectable.
  4. (ECOG) performance status score of 0 or 1.
  5. of at least 6 months.
  6. Adequate organ, bone marrow, and coagulation functions, meeting the following laboratory criteria within 7 days prior to enrollment:

    • (ANC) >= 1.5 x 10\^9/L;
    • count >= 100 x 10\^9/L;
    • >= 90 g/L;
    • Total \<= 1.5 x (ULN);
    • (ALT) and Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) \<= 2.5 x ULN;
    • Serum creatinine \<= 1.5 x ULN, or >= 50 mL/min;
    • (INR) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) \<= 1.5 x ULN.
  7. Female participants of must have a negative serum pregnancy test within 7 days prior to the first dose and agree to use effective during the study and for at least 6 months after the last dose. Male participants must agree to use effective contraception during the study and for at least 6 months after the last dose.
  8. Participant understands the study protocol, voluntarily participates, and signs the written Form (ICF).

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. confirmed small cell lung cancer, adeno-squamous carcinoma, large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma, or adenocarcinoma (including components of these types).
  2. Patients with driver gene mutations that have approved targeted therapies available (e.g., EGFR mutations, ALK rearrangements, ROS1 fusions, etc.).
  3. Prior systemic antitumor therapy for lung cancer, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, or definitive surgical resection.
  4. Active, known, or suspected diseases (e.g., systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmune hepatitis), or a history of autoimmune disease within the past 2 years.
  5. History of other malignant tumors within the past 5 years, except for adequately treated cured skin basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, or carcinoma in situ (e.g., cervical carcinoma in situ).
  6. Severe cardiovascular or cerebrovascular diseases, including but not limited to:

    • Myocardial infarction or unstable angina within the past 6 months;
    • (NYHA) Class III or IV congestive heart failure;
    • ventricular arrhythmia or poorly controlled symptomatic arrhythmia;
    • Stroke or (TIA) within the past 6 months.
  7. Poorly controlled hypertension (systolic blood pressure >= 160 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure >= 100 mmHg despite standard antihypertensive therapy).
  8. (COPD) or other respiratory diseases with severe lung function impairment (e.g., \< 50% predicted value, or requiring long-term home oxygen therapy).
  9. Active infections requiring systemic intravenous anti-infective treatment within 2 weeks prior to enrollment (e.g., severe pneumonia, bacteremia), or active tuberculosis infection.
  10. Known history of (HIV) infection, or active (HBV DNA >= 500 IU/mL or copy number above detection limit) or active (HCV RNA positive).
  11. History of interstitial lung disease (ILD), drug-induced pneumonitis, radiation pneumonitis requiring treatment, or evidence of active pneumonitis.
  12. Severe claustrophobia, severe high-altitude sickness history, or other medical/psychological conditions that prevent compliance with intermittent hypoxic training (IHT) using the FLY-2265 low oxygen system.
  13. Pregnant or breastfeeding women.
  14. Any other medical condition, clinical laboratory abnormality, or social circumstance that, in the opinion of the investigator, may compromise participant safety, interfere with the evaluation of study interventions, or affect compliance with study procedures.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(24)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

NYHA class (heart failure)

The New York Heart Association’s four classes of how much heart failure limits physical activity.

I
No limits: ordinary activity causes no undue tiredness or breathlessness.
II
Slight limits: comfortable at rest, ordinary activity causes symptoms.
III
Marked limits: comfortable at rest, less than ordinary activity causes symptoms.
IV
Symptoms even at rest; any activity makes them worse.

Studies set their own limit — many outside heart failure leave out class III–IV, while heart failure studies may ask for a particular class. Check the class this study names.

Clinically significant

Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.

TIA (transient ischaemic attack)

A “mini-stroke”: temporary stroke-like symptoms caused by reduced blood flow to part of the brain, spinal cord or eye, without signs of a new stroke on a scan.

Stroke symptoms need emergency care at once, even if they go away.

COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

FEV1

From a breathing test (spirometry): how much air you can blow out in the first second. Often given as a percentage of what is expected for your age, height and sex.

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.

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.

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.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
60 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Intermittent Hypoxic Training + Chemo-immunotherapy

    Participants will receive standard neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy (nab-paclitaxel + carboplatin + pembrolizumab) for 4 cycles (21 days per cycle). Concurrently, participants will undergo Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT) using the FLY-2265 system (13% FiO2 for 5 min, 21% FiO2 for 5 min per cycle; 10 cycles/session, twice daily) for 7 consecutive days starting on Day 1 of each chemo-immunotherapy cycle. Surgery will be performed 3-4 weeks after completing the 4th cycle.

    Device: Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT) · Combination Product: Standard Neoadjuvant Chemo-immunotherapy

  • Active comparator
    Standard Neoadjuvant Chemo-immunotherapy Alone

    Participants will receive standard neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy alone for 4 cycles (21 days per cycle). The regimen consists of nab-paclitaxel, carboplatin, and pembrolizumab at standard clinical doses, identical to the experimental group. No intermittent hypoxic training will be administered. Surgery will be performed 3-4 weeks after completing the 4th cycle.

    Combination Product: Standard Neoadjuvant Chemo-immunotherapy

Interventions

  • DeviceIntermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT)

    Participants will undergo Intermittent Hypoxic Training (IHT) using the FLY-2265 low oxygen system. The training protocol consists of cycles of inhaling 13% FiO2 (fraction of inspired oxygen) for 5 minutes, followed by 21% FiO2 (room air) for 5 minutes. Each session comprises 10 cycles, administered twice daily, for 7 consecutive days. This 7-day training course starts on Day 1 of each 21-day neoadjuvant treatment cycle, for a total of 4 courses.

  • Participants will receive standard clinical doses of neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy for 4 cycles (21 days per cycle) prior to surgery. The regimen includes: 1) Nab-paclitaxel; 2) Carboplatin; 3) Pembrolizumab. All agents will be administered via intravenous infusion according to standard clinical oncology guidelines.

    Also known as: Nab-paclitaxel, Carboplatin, Pembrokizumab

This study also gives Pembrolizumab. No intervention listed here names it: that was found by reading the record.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Pathologic Complete Response (pCR) Rate

    The percentage of participants who achieve pathologic complete response, defined as the complete disappearance of all invasive tumor cells in the completely resectable lung cancer specimen and all sampled regional lymph nodes (ypT0N0) following neoadjuvant therapy.

    Time frame: At the time of surgery (approximately 3 to 4 weeks after the completion of the 4th cycle of neoadjuvant therapy).

Secondary outcomes

  1. Major Pathological Response (MPR) Rate

    The percentage of participants with 10% or less viable tumor cells remaining in the resected primary tumor specimen following neoadjuvant therapy.

    Time frame: At the time of surgery (approximately 3 to 4 weeks after the completion of the 4th cycle of neoadjuvant therapy).

  2. Incidence of Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events (TEAEs)

    Safety and tolerability evaluated by grading and recording adverse events, compliance with intermittent hypoxic training, and delay or discontinuation of neoadjuvant therapy, graded according to the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5.0.

    Time frame: From the start of neoadjuvant therapy up to 30 days after surgery (approximately 5 months).

  3. 2-Year Recurrence-Free Survival (RFS) Rate

    The percentage of participants who are alive without tumor recurrence or progression at 2 years after surgery.

    Time frame: 2 years post-surgery.

  4. Changes in Peripheral Blood Immune Cell Subsets

    Evaluation of tumor immune microenvironment factors and systemic immunity, including the percentage of CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, and the CD4+/CD8+ T-cell ratio measured by flow cytometry.

    Time frame: Baseline (before therapy) and prior to surgery (approximately 12 weeks after baseline).

07

Study locations

1 site
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

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 Jun 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
NCT07618793
Lead sponsor
zhang yi
Responsible party
zhang yi (Professor and Chief Physician, Xuanwu Hospital, Beijing) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Jun 1, 2026
Start date
Jun 2026 (estimated)
Primary completion
Dec 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 2028 (estimated)
Last update
Jun 1, 2026

Study contacts

Yi Zhang, PhD
Contact
zhangyixwhosp@xwh.ccmu.edu.cn
+86-13141370703

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

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

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