Melanoma of the eye (ocular/uveal melanoma) is an uncommon type of cancer that is associated with a high mortality. It usually disseminates rapidly throughout the body, most commonly to the liver and lungs. In this study a combination therapy with immunotherapy (ipilimumab with nivolumab) and chemotherapy (melphalan) will be assessed for the treatment of disseminated uveal melanoma. Melphalan will be administered selectively to the liver via percutaneous hepatic perfusion, limiting the systemic effect of chemotherapy. With this treatment combination we aim to find a treatment for disseminated uveal melanoma, both in the liver as in the other organs.
Uveal melanoma (UM) is an uncommon malignancy (0.6-0.7 cases/100.000/year) that, in the case of metastatic stage, has a poor prognosis for response to treatment and survival. It is remarkable for its purely hematogenous pattern of dissemination, most commonly to the liver (60%) and lungs (25%). Current approaches using percutaneous hepatic perfusion (PHP) with melphalan resulted in response rates of up to 40% in the liver (1, 2) (for results of our own phase II study see paragraph 6.3.2). However, a main part of the patients developed extrahepatic disease in the follow-up, whereas the liver metastases were mainly stable. Checkpoint inhibitors have been shown to improve overall survival in metastasized cutaneous melanoma in phase III studies (3-6), but seem to have limited activity as monotherapies in metastasized uveal melanoma (7-9). The combination of ipilimumab and nivolumab has achieved 2 out of 6 patients PR in a retrospective analysis (10). Interestingly, both patients had a liver-directed therapy (SIRT and chemoembolization) before the immunotherapy. Combination of radio-frequency ablation (RFA) and anti-CTLA-4 enhanced antigen-loading of dendritic cells, and induced long-lasting anti-tumor immune responses in a murine melanoma model without induction of any severe side effects (11, 12). A phase Ib/II trial by Blank et al. (13) showed unconfirmed responses in some patients when RFA was combined with ipilimumab in uveal melanoma, but long-term disease stabilization was not achieved. Most of the responses were seen in extrahepatic metastases. Combining percutaneous hepatic perfusion (PHP) with checkpoint inhibitors could together lead to control of hepatic and extrahepatic disease. Therefore, we propose the current trial: Phase1b/2 Study Combining Hepatic Percutaneous Perfusion with Ipilimumab plus Nivolumab in advanced Uveal Melanoma (CHOPIN).
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
83
The effect of ipilimumab and nivolumab has previously been tested in metastatic uveal melanoma. In this study the combination with percutaneous hepatic perfusion will be performed in order to evaluate the effect.
The effect of ipilimumab and nivolumab has previously been tested in metastatic uveal melanoma. In this study the combination with percutaneous hepatic perfusion will be performed in order to evaluate the effect.
Leiden University Medical Center
Leiden, South Holland, Netherlands
Toxicity and safety of treatment
Dose limiting toxicities, maximum tolerated dose and recommended phase dose of the combination ipilimumab/nivolumab and PHP in patients with unresectable, histologically confirmed hepatic metastasis of uveal melanoma in phase Ib part.
Time frame: 36 weeks
Efficacy and safety
Description of PFS according to RECIST 1.1 at one year in the PHP group versus PHP + ipilimumab/nivolumab group in the phase II part.
Time frame: 1 year
Response rate
Description of response rate and overall survival, overall clinical response, and duration of response
Time frame: 1 year
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