ClinicalTrials.gg
Not yet recruitingNCT07896811TRIFECTA-SCCUpdated Oct 27, 2026

Triplet Immunotherapy For Exhausted Cell Targets in Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma

A Phase 2 interventional study of Induction radiotherapy and Vilastobart in Squamous Cell Carcinoma, sponsored by Medical College of Wisconsin. Not yet recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-27.

Sponsored by Medical College of Wisconsin · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

Updated Oct 27, 2026Newly registeredGo to Updates ↓
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
26
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Where this study stands

Counted across the records on this site · 2026-11-12

Among 328 studies in Carcinoma, Squamous Cell with a site in United States — 66 open to participants now, 97 under way, 6 of them phase 3. Carcinoma, Squamous Cell · United States.

Planned enrollment
182nd of 278
26 · median 37
Started
2027
with 2 others
Phase 2
105 of 328
22 open now
Primary completion
2029-08
later than 80 of 96 live
Registered
327th of 328
by date

Among the 328 studies in Carcinoma, Squamous Cell with a site in United States, this one is the 182nd largest by planned enrollment of the 278 interventional ones, is one of 3 that started in 2027, is one of 105 in phase 2, reaches primary completion later than 80 of the 96 other live ones, and was the 327th registered.

By phase

328 studies; the count open now beside each. This study's row is marked.

Phase 2this study105 · 22 open
Phase 180 · 19 open
Observational45 · 5 open
No phase36 · 7 open
Phase 1/228 · 8 open
Phase 324 · 3 open
Phase 2/34 · 1 open
Phase 44 · 1 open
Other kind2 · 0 open

By the year they started

First in 1994; this study’s year is marked. 3 started in 2027.

Size and results

Median enrollment 37 across the 278 interventional studies, 64 across the 45 observational. Of the 203 that completed or were terminated, 94 (46%) have results posted.

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02

Study summary

The investigators propose a phase II signal-finding study, TRIFECTA-SCC, to determine whether four 100 mg IV every 6 week doses of vilastobart plus six every 4 week doses of Opdualag with induction radiotherapy can lead to ≥50% 6-month progression-free survival for patients with recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. Patients with pathology-confirmed squamous cell carcinoma, previously untreated in the recurrent and/or metastatic setting, and adequate organ function will be included.

03

Conditions studied

  • Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Keywords

  • squamous cell carcinoma
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 18 years or older with pathology-confirmed recurrent and/or (R/M) squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) who have not received systemic therapy specifically for R/M SCC. Tumors reported as mixed histology are ineligible. Patients must have 1-5 R/M lesions. Contiguous matted nodal conglomerates will be counted as a single lesion.
  • Initial primary site of disease is not restricted and may include the head and neck, lung, skin, urogenital, gynecological, anal canal, gastrointestinal, or squamous cell carcinoma of an unknown primary site.
  • Patients must have under v1.1. A superficial lesion may be measured with calipers if it meets RECIST clinical measurability requirements and is documented reproducibly. Baseline target lesions and measurement methods must be recorded before radiotherapy.
  • Patients may have recurrent disease as a single lesion or multiple metastatic deposits. If a single recurrent lesion, it must be considered unresectable by the treating oncologic surgeon, either technically or functionally (i.e., morbidity of resection outweighs potential benefit of resection).
  • Any combined positive score (CPS).
  • Disease may be human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive or HPV-negative.
  • Prior anti-PD-1 and/or anti-CTLA-4 therapy given with curative intent for the initial primary cancer, including , definitive or adjuvant treatment, is permitted. Recurrence during or after such therapy is eligible without a minimum recurrence-free interval, provided no systemic therapy has been initiated specifically for R/M SCC. Patients cannot have had Grade ≥3 irAEs or an immune-mediated event for which rechallenge is .
  • (ECOG) performance status of 0-2.
  • Obtain Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH) and free T4 at screening; repeat as specified. A thyroid abnormality alone is not exclusionary if clinically stable on appropriate management.
  • Female patients must meet one of the following:

    1. for at least one year before the screening visit, or
    2. Surgically sterile (i.e., undergone a hysterectomy or bilateral oophorectomy), or
    3. If subject is of (defined as not satisfying either of the above two criteria), meet either (i) or (ii):

      • Use effective from consent through at least 5 months after the last Opdualag dose and at least 90 days after the last vilastobart dose, whichever ends later. Acceptable methods and pregnancy potential must be documented under institutional practice. This protocol retains a two-method approach, unless a highly effective method or qualifying abstinence is documented by the investigator.
      • Agree to practice true abstinence for the full prevention interval in (i) when this is in line with the preferred and usual lifestyle of the subject. (Periodic abstinence [e.g., calendar, ovulation, symptom-thermal, post ovulation methods] and withdrawal are not acceptable contraception methods).
  • Male patients, even if surgically sterilized (i.e., status post vasectomy), must meet (a) or (c), and also comply with (b) when applicable:

    1. Use effective barrier contraception throughout treatment and for at least 90 days after the last vilastobart dose, or longer if subsequently required by an approved protocol amendment. If the partner can become pregnant, use an additional effective method unless qualifying abstinence applies.
    2. Also adhere to any applicable study-specific pregnancy prevention program; this is additional to (a) or (c).
    3. Agree to practice true abstinence throughout treatment and for at least 90 days after the last vilastobart dose when this is in line with the preferred and usual lifestyle of the subject. (Periodic abstinence [e.g., calendar, ovulation, symptom-thermal, post-ovulation methods] and withdrawal are not acceptable methods of contraception.)
  • Ability to understand a written document, and the willingness to sign it.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Central nervous system .
  • Greater than 5 metastatic deposits. Contiguous matted nodal conglomerates will be counted as a single lesion.
  • Any patient with a lesion requiring acute cytoreduction through use of induction chemotherapy, as determined by the treating medical oncologist.
  • Solid organ transplant or disease requiring chronic systemic . Stable autoimmune disease that does not require systemic immunosuppression is permitted after PI review, with specialist input when indicated. Active autoimmune disease that makes immunotherapy unsafe is exclusionary until adequately controlled. Physiologic hormone replacement and topical or inhaled therapy alone do not constitute chronic systemic immunosuppression. Prior severe immune-related toxicity and to rechallenge remain exclusionary under Section 4.5.1 of the study protocol.
  • Performance status (ECOG) ≥ 3.
  • A concurrent active separate metastatic of a different histology than SCC. However, any previously treated malignancy considered in remission at the time of enrollment is permitted.
  • Any of the following severe laboratory abnormalities within 14 days of registration:

    1. Sodium \<128 mmol/L or >155 mmol/L.
    2. Potassium \<3.0 mmol/L or >6 mmol/L.
    3. Glucose \<40 mg/dl or >400 mg/dl.
    4. Total serum calcium, adjusted for albumin, \<7 mg/dL or >12.5 mg/dL. These limits do not apply to ionized calcium.
    5. Magnesium \<0.9 mg/dl or >3 mg/dl.
    6. estimated (eGFR) ≤40 mL/min.
    7. (AST) / alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≥3 x (ULN).
    8. Total ≥1.5 x ULN. Participants with documented Gilbert syndrome may have total bilirubin ≤3 x ULN. Assess for active hepatic disease or obstruction when clinically indicated; treatment-emergent hepatic toxicity is managed.
    9. (ANC) ≤1 ×10\^9/L
    10. ≤50 ×10\^9/L
    11. (Hgb) ≤8 g/dL
    12. Abnormal values corrected into the acceptable range are permitted. Document qualifying repeat results within the required screening window before confirming eligibility and registration.
  • Unstable angina and/or congestive heart failure requiring hospitalization within 3 months prior to enrollment.
  • Transmural myocardial infarction within 3 months prior to enrollment.
  • Medical or psychiatric illness that would compromise treatment tolerance or study participation, including uncontrolled infection. Defer registration until such infection is adequately controlled. Well-controlled , or does not by itself exclude participation. The principal investigator must document infection control, adequate organ function and a treatment/monitoring plan, with infectious-disease or hepatology input when needed, including antiviral therapy and reactivation monitoring where indicated.
  • Pregnancy, breastfeeding, or inability/unwillingness to follow the requirements above. Breastfeeding is prohibited during study treatment and until at least 5 months after the last Opdualag dose and 90 days after the last vilastobart dose, whichever is later.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(25)

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.

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.

PD-1, PD-L1 and checkpoint inhibitors

PD-1, PD-L1 and CTLA-4 are proteins that act as brakes on the immune system. Checkpoint inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab or nivolumab, block them so the immune system can attack a cancer.

PD-L1 can also be measured in a tumour sample. Some scores count stained tumour cells only (TPS); others also count certain immune cells (CPS). The study names the score and the minimum it uses.

Adjuvant and neoadjuvant

Neoadjuvant treatment is given before the main treatment (usually surgery), often to shrink a tumour. Adjuvant treatment is given after it, to lower the chance of the cancer coming back.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

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.

Postmenopausal

Periods have stopped for good: usually no period for 12 months in a row without another medical reason, sometimes confirmed by a blood test (FSH).

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.

Immunosuppression

A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.

Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)

GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².

Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

05

Study design

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

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Induction radiotherapy with Immunotherapy

    Patients will receive 35 Gy in five fractions to all eligible recurrent/metastatic lesions. Post-RT immunotherapy should start within 72 hours after the final fraction.

    Radiation: Induction radiotherapy · Drug: Vilastobart · Drug: Opdualag

Interventions

  • RadiationInduction radiotherapy

    35 Gy in five fractions to all eligible lesions.

  • four vilastobart 100 mg IV doses every 6 weeks at Weeks 0, 6, 12, and 18

    Also known as: XTX-101

  • DrugOpdualag

    six Opdualag doses every 4 weeks at Weeks 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20

    Also known as: Nivolumab and relatlimab-rmbw

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

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Six-month Progression-Free Survival

    This measure is the number of subjects without progression at six months.

    Time frame: Up to six calendar months and 14 days after the first radiation fraction

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

Timeline

1 registry update since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Start is estimated for Feb 2027; primary completion for Aug 2029, 30 months later.

Of 86 non-industry phase 2 interventional studies under Carcinoma, Squamous Cell, half reached primary completion within 61 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 44 and three quarters within 82. This study's planned 30 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 97 studies reached it within 61 months; a quarter within 37 and three quarters within 82.

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

Registered
Oct 20, 2026
First posted
Oct 27, 2026
StartEst.
Feb 1, 2027
Primary completionEst.
Aug 1, 2029
CompletionEst.
Feb 1, 2030
Last update
Oct 27, 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.
Registered
First appeared on the registry. No changes since
Oct 27, 2026
Show all 1 update
  1. Oct 27, 2026
    First appeared on the registry

From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07896811
Responsible party
Stuart Wong (Professor, Medical College of Wisconsin) — Principal investigator
First posted
Oct 27, 2026
Start date
Feb 1, 2027 (estimated)
Primary completion
Aug 1, 2029 (estimated)
Completion
Feb 1, 2030 (estimated)
Last update
Oct 27, 2026

Study contacts

Medical College of Wisconsin Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office
Contact
cccto@mcw.edu
866-680-0505 ext. 8900
Stuart J Wong, MD
principal investigator · Medical College of Wisconsin

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

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

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Discussion

Questions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.

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Studies of the drug tested here: Vilastobart

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