ClinicalTrials.gg
Not yet recruitingNCT07633613CPIUpdated Sep 15, 2026

Pharmacokinetic Study of Pembrolizumab and Its Impact on Immunity and the Tumor Microenvironment, Which May Explain the Efficacy of Post-immunotherapy Chemotherapy.

A Phase 4 interventional study of Blood sampling and Tumor biopsies for biobank establishment (optional) in Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma (NSCLC) and Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma, sponsored by Centre Antoine Lacassagne. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-15.

Sponsored by Centre Antoine Lacassagne · Phase 4, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
110
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
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Study summary

This is a single-center pharmacokinetic study evaluating the impact of residual pembrolizumab levels on the efficacy of salvage chemotherapy following immunotherapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) or recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) not amenable to curative local treatment.

02

Conditions studied

  • Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma (NSCLC)
  • Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Keywords

  • Pembrolizumab
  • immunotherapy
  • salvage chemotherapy
  • pharmacokinetics
03

In context

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung

7,620 studies on the registry are indexed under Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung; 1,838 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 110 is above the median of 62 across 6,019 interventional studies indexed under Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung.

Browse Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung studies →

Lead sponsor

Centre Antoine Lacassagne is the lead sponsor of 66 studies on the registry; 16 are open to participants now.

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

- Patients over 18 years of age

- Patients diagnosed with :

  1. Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), including adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma.
  2. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, p16-negative for oropharyngeal tumors.

    • Recurrent and/or tumor not amenable to curative locoregional treatment.
    • Disease progression under Pembrolizumab immunotherapy, administered at the standard dose of 200 mg every 3 weeks, as treatment for metastatic disease, regardless of the number of cycles received, either as monotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy, as defined below:

      • For pulmonary adenocarcinomas: i. First-line treatment with Pembrolizumab in combination with a platinum agent (Carboplatin or Cisplatin) and Pemetrexed

    ii. Maintenance therapy with Pembrolizumab, with or without Pemetrexed.

    • For pulmonary squamous cell carcinomas: i. First-line treatment with Pembrolizumab in combination with a platinum agent (Carboplatin) and Paclitaxel

    +/- ii. Maintenance therapy with Pembrolizumab alone.

    • For head and neck squamous cell carcinomas : i. First-line treatment with Pembrolizumab in combination with a platinum agent (Carboplatin or Cisplatin) ± 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) or Paclitaxel

    +/- ii. Maintenance therapy with Pembrolizumab alone.

    • Eligibility for salvage chemotherapy within standard care:

      • For pulmonary adenocarcinomas: weekly Paclitaxel, with or without Bevacizumab.
      • For pulmonary squamous cell carcinomas: Gemcitabine monotherapy.
      • For head and neck squamous cell carcinomas: weekly Paclitaxel and/or Cetuximab. Standard salvage chemotherapy may be initiated between Day 18 and Day 35 following the last Pembrolizumab injection, at standard doses.
    • according to 1.1 criteria.
    • Performance status (PS) 0 to 2.
    • Baseline laboratory results meeting the usual criteria permitting initiation of salvage chemotherapy.
    • Patients who has voluntarily agreed to participate in the study (including additional blood sampling) and has signed the form.
    • For the subpopulation with accessible tissue :

      • Patient agrees to undergo biopsy,
      • \< 1.5, > 50000/μL.
    • Patients covered by a social security health insurance scheme.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of cancer, except for cancers in complete remission for more than 3 years, fully resected cutaneous basal cell carcinomas, or treated carcinoma in situ or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (in situ cervical epithelioma),
  • Patients participating in another clinical trial for which an exclusion period is specified,
  • Minor patients,
  • For the subpopulation with accessible tissue , patients receiving:

    • Clopidogrel (hydrogen sulfate) or Prasugrel (hydrochloride) or Ticlopidine (hydrochloride) without the possibility of discontinuation for 5 days,
    • Low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) without the possibility of dose suspension prior to the procedure,
    • Or Fondaparinux without the possibility of discontinuation,
    • Or Abciximab without the possibility of discontinuation for 24 hours and \< 50s and ACT \< 150s,
    • Or Eptifibatide or Tirofiban hydrochloride monohydrate or Argatroban without the possibility of discontinuation 4 hours before the procedure,
    • Or Bivalirudin without the possibility of discontinuation 2-3 hours before the procedure if CrCL > 50 mL/min, or 3-5 hours if CrCL \< 50 mL/min,
    • Or Dabigatran etexilate without the possibility of discontinuation 2-3 days before the procedure if CrCL > 50 mL/min, or 3-5 days if CrCL \< 50 mL/min.
  • Vulnerable persons as defined in Articles L1121-5 to L1121-8 :

    • Pregnant women, women in labour, and breastfeeding mothers,
    • Persons deprived of liberty by judicial or administrative decision, and persons hospitalized without consent under Articles L3212-1 and L3213-1 who do not fall under the provisions of Article L1121-8,
    • Persons admitted to a health or social care institution for purposes other than research,
    • Adults under legal protection measures or unable to express their consent.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(8)

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.

Metastases

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

Line of therapy

A line of therapy is one course of treatment, which may combine several drugs. First-line is the first course given; second-line follows when that stops working or is not tolerated.

“Two prior lines” means two courses that count separately under the study’s rules — not simply two drugs. Ask the study team if you are unsure how yours are counted.

Measurable disease

The amount of disease can be tracked with a defined measurement, so the study can see whether it shrinks or grows. It might be a tumour measured on a scan or, in some blood cancers such as myeloma, a marker measured in blood or urine.

The criteria or the study team say which measurement counts — having no tumour visible on a scan does not by itself rule you out.

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.

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.

Biopsy and archival tissue

A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.

Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.

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.

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.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
110 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Residual Pembrolizumab Exposure Assessment

    Biological: Blood sampling · Procedure: Tumor biopsies for biobank establishment (optional)

Interventions

  • BiologicalBlood sampling

    Patients will be followed according to standard clinical care. Biological samples collected include: (1) pharmacokinetic and extracellular vesicle analyses: 10 mL blood samples in EDTA tubes at 21±3, 35±3, 49±3, and 63±3 days after the last pembrolizumab administration (P1-P4); (2) pharmacogenetic analysis: one baseline 5 mL EDTA blood sample; (3) cytokine and immune cell analyses: at P1 and P4, collection of 2×4 mL lithium heparin tubes, 1×10 mL EDTA tube, and 1×5 mL dry tube.

  • ProcedureTumor biopsies for biobank establishment (optional)

    Depending on feasibility of the procedure, and at the discretion of the investigator, two biopsies will be performed in 20 consenting patients: * Biopsy B1: between the last administration of pembrolizumab (Day 0) and before initiation of standard salvage chemotherapy, * Biopsy B2: after initiation of salvage chemotherapy, at Day 63 ± 7 days after the last administration of pembrolizumab. If chemotherapy is discontinued prematurely, Biopsy B2 may only be performed if the patient has received at least 3 weeks of chemotherapy exposure. Due to logistical constraints, these biopsies will be proposed to patients followed at CAL. They will be performed primarily in the interventional radiology department of CAL.

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. Objective response rate (ORR) at 3 months after initiation of salvage chemotherapy (RECIST v1.1)

    Objective response rate (ORR) includes the proportion of patients achieving complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) according to RECIST version 1.1 criteria. Tumor response will be assessed using routine imaging performed during standard clinical follow-up care. ORR will be analyzed in relation to residual pembrolizumab (anti-PD-1) serum concentration measured 21 days after the last administration of pembrolizumab (P1), immediately prior to initiation of salvage chemotherapy.

    Time frame: 3 months after initiation of salvage chemotherapy

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Study locations

No study locations are listed for this record.

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 15, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07633613
Lead sponsor
Centre Antoine Lacassagne
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jun 8, 2026
Start date
Oct 2026 (estimated)
Primary completion
May 2029 (estimated)
Completion
May 2029 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 15, 2026

Study contacts

Marine SIRVENT
Contact
DRCI-Promotion@nice.unicancer.fr
+33 4 92 03 17 78

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 Sep 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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