Skin Cancer/Melanoma clinical trials at UC Davis
6 research studies open to eligible people
A Study of an Experimental Combination of Injections and Radiation Therapy for Advanced Stage Solid Tumors
“This study is being done to test a new therapy for advanced stage solid tumor cancers involving a combination of radiation and injections.”
open to eligible people ages 18 years and up
This is a phase I/II study that will evaluate the safety and toxicity of this combinatorial approach. Eligible patients >18 years of age with histologically proven metastatic NSCLC, melanoma, RCC, or HNSCC who have failed PD-1 / PD-L1 checkpoint blockade therapy will be enrolled. Patients must have a candidate treatment lesion (subcutaneous, nodal, or visceral) accessible and safe for radiotherapy and serial intralesional injections as specified by the protocol. They must also have at least one target lesion (distinct from treatment lesion and outside of treatment lesion radiation field) evaluable for response by RECIST. This study will consist of a phase I dose escalation using a standard 3+3 design to determine safety and MTD of intralesional IL-2 which will be dose escalated in conjunction with standard fixed doses of RT and Pembrolizumab. At the MTD there will be a phase II dose expansion which will incorporate a simon-two stage design to assess efficacy and safety. Patients will receive pembrolizumab and intralesional IL-2 in combination with hypofractionated radiotherapy.
Sacramento, California and other locations
A Study of the Drug ONC-392 in Advanced Solid Tumors and Lung Cancer
open to eligible people ages 18 years and up
This is a First-in-Human Phase IA/IB/II open label dose escalation study of intravenous (IV) administration of ONC-392, a humanized anti-CTLA4 IgG1 monoclonal antibody, as single agent and in combination with pembrolizumab in participants with advanced or metastatic solid tumors and non-small cell lung cancers.
Davis, California and other locations
Pembrolizumab Versus Placebo Following Surgery and Radiation in Skin Cancer
open to eligible people ages 18 years and up
This is a randomized, double-blind, study that compares pembrolizumab (MK-3475) with placebo given as adjuvant therapy in participants with high-risk locally advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (LA cSCC) that have undergone surgery with curative intent in combination with radiotherapy. The primary hypothesis is that pembrolizumab is superior to placebo in increasing recurrence free survival (RFS).
Sacramento, California and other locations
Targeted therapy directed by genetic testing in treating patients with advanced solid tumors, lymphomas, or multiple myeloma
“Will identifying genetic abnormalities in tumor cells help doctors plan better, more personalized treatment for cancer patients?”
open to eligible people ages 18 years and up
This phase II MATCH trial studies how well treatment that is directed by genetic testing works in patients with solid tumors or lymphomas that have progressed following at least one line of standard treatment or for which no agreed upon treatment approach exists. Genetic tests look at the unique genetic material (genes) of patients' tumor cells. Patients with genetic abnormalities (such as mutations, amplifications, or translocations) may benefit more from treatment which targets their tumor's particular genetic abnormality. Identifying these genetic abnormalities first may help doctors plan better treatment for patients with solid tumors, lymphomas, or multiple myeloma.
Sacramento, California and other locations
Viral Therapy in High Risk Early Melanoma
open to eligible people ages 18 years and up
Despite the recent notable advances in the treatment of advanced melanoma with application of growing immunotherapies, patterns of response and factors resulting in treatment failure are poorly understood. Moreover, the application of these therapeutics has been limited in the neoadjuvant setting, particularly in earlier stage disease, even though this strategy has improved tolerance and efficacy with other modalities of therapy in other cancer types. Survival remains significantly poorer for thicker and ulcerated lesions with T3b and T4 lesions demonstrating less than 50% survival at 5 years independent of other prognostic indicators. Oncolytic viral therapies (OVT) stimulate or suppress the immune system in different ways to stop cancer cells from growing and intra-lesional OVT has demonstrated comparable efficacy and durability with greater tolerability than most effective systemic therapy. Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) is the only phase III approved intra-lesional therapy in melanoma and has demonstrated significantly improved overall response rate (64%) and bystander effect (34% in uninjected lesions) in the therapeutic setting for advanced disease. The investigators propose an open-label, Phase 2 study of talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC), in the neoadjuvant setting for patients with high-risk, resectable primary and cutaneous melanoma prior to definitive excision. The central hypothesis of this proposal is that neoadjuvant intra-lesional therapy with T-VEC in high risk early stage melanoma will effectively treat local and subclinical distant disease by enhanced immune recognition, immunomodulation of the nodal basin, and still allow for standard of care surgery. The primary aim of this study will be to evaluate for histologic response of melanoma with secondary aim to determine changes in immune response and draining sentinel nodes as well as relationship of immune phenotype to response rate, stage and nodal burden. The investigators plan for thorough exploratory analysis of genetic and microenvironmental changes to identify actionable targets in incomplete as well as evaluation of changes in sentinel burden and subsequent rates of locoregional disease control, recurrence-free survival and overall survival in long term follow up. The investigators predict that histologic clearance of the primary tumor in the surgical specimen will be associated with improved RFS. In summary, the goal of this project is to conduct a phase II study to evaluate efficacy of Talimogene laherparepvec in the neoadjuvant setting for primary invasive melanoma in effort to improve currently poor outcomes for these tumors. This strategy has not yet been explored in early phase disease despite dramatic results seen with neoadjuvant therapeutics in other cancer types and recent clinical studies demonstrating efficacy of this approach in advanced resectable melanoma. Our ability to predict non-responder from responder to immunotherapeutic agents such as T-VEC is not yet defined and the risk of universal exposure to these systemic agents may outweigh the hypothesized benefit given the potential for immune-mediated toxicity as well as associated costs. More importantly, mechanistic dissection of pathways and molecular/immunological signatures of response and resistance offer the promise of a more rational and targeted selection of immunotherapy to maximize benefits and minimize risks. This study would be first in kind to target high earlier stage melanoma in the neoadjuvant setting with a less toxic intra-tumoral immunotherapy with key correlative endpoints regarding immune mechanisms of response.
Sacramento, California and other locations
Determining how melanoma interacts with the immune system
“A study of the immune systems interaction with melanoma”
open to eligible people ages 18-85
The aim of this study is to study T-cells. Blood will be collected and the samples will be used to generate T cell clones. Two separate blood draws will be required at the maximum.
Sacramento, California
Our lead scientists for Skin Cancer/Melanoma research studies include Sepideh Gholami, MD Emanual Maverakis, M.D. Megan Daly, MD.
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