This phase I trial tests the safety and effectiveness of nivolumab and ipilimumab with and without EXL01 for the treatment of renal cell cancer that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic). Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as nivolumab and ipilimumab, may help the body's immune system attack the tumor, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. EXL01 is a live biotherapeutic product containing a strain of bacteria called Faecalibacterium prausnitzii. It may enhance a patient's response to treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors like nivolumab and ipilimumab by altering the composition of the bacteria in the gut. Adding EXL01 to treatment with nivolumab and ipilimumab may be safe and more effective than giving nivolumab and ipilimumab alone.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: I. To evaluate the effects of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii-containing bacterial strain formulation EXL01 (EXL01) (in combination with nivolumab/ipilimumab) on systemic immunomodulation in patients with mRCC. SECONDARY OBJECTIVES: I. To evaluate the safety and tolerability of EXL01 (in combination with nivolumab/ipilimumab) in the treatment of patients with mRCC. II. To evaluate the effect of EXL01 on the clinical efficacy of nivolumab/ipilimumab. EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVES: I. To determine the effect of EXL01 on gut microbiome diversity and function. II. To determine the effect of EXL01 on systemic immunodulation. OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 arms. ARM A: CYCLES 1-4: Patients receive nivolumab intravenously (IV) over 30 minutes and ipilimumab IV over 30 minutes on day 1 of each cycle and receive EXL01 orally (PO) once daily (QD) on days 1-21 of each cycle. Cycles repeat every 21 days for 4 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. CYCLES 5+: Patients continue receiving nivolumab IV over 30 minutes on day 1 of each cycle and EXL01 PO QD on days 1-28 of each cycle. Cycles repeat every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients also undergo computed tomography (CT) and collection of blood samples throughout the study. Patients may undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at screening and may undergo bone scan as clinically indicated. ARM B: CYCLES 1-4: Patients receive nivolumab IV over 30 minutes and ipilimumab IV over 30 minutes on day 1 of each cycle. Cycles repeat every 21 days for 4 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. CYCLES 5+: Patients continue receiving nivolumab IV over 30 minutes on day 1 of each cycle. Cycles repeat every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients also undergo CT and collection of blood samples throughout the study. Patients may undergo MRI at screening and may undergo bone scan as clinically indicated. After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up within 30 days then every 3 months for up to 2 years.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
33
Undergo collection of blood samples
Undergo bone scan
Undergo CT
Given PO
Given IV
Undergo MRI
Given IV
City of Hope Medical Center
Duarte, California, United States
City of Hope Medical Center
Irvine, California, United States
Change in plasma IFNγ
IFNγ plasma concentration will be analyzed using a 2-sample t-test if normality assumptions are met; otherwise, the Wilcoxon rank sum test will be applied.
Time frame: At baseline and week 13
Incidence of grade ≥ 3 adverse events (AEs)
The safety evaluation will be based on all patients that received at least one dose of the drug and will include AEs, serious AEs, and changes from baseline in laboratory evaluations, vital signs, and physical examinations. Summaries will be provided overall and by treatment group. The number and percentage of subjects reporting treatment-emergent AEs (TEAE) will be summarized overall and by the worst Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events grade. Similarly, the number and percentage of subjects reporting TEAEs considered related to each study drug will be summarized.
Time frame: Up to 30 days after last dose of treatment
Best overall response
Response and progression will be evaluated in this study using the new international criteria proposed by the revised Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) guideline. Changes in the largest diameter (unidimensional measurement) of the tumor lesions and the shortest diameter in the case of malignant lymph nodes are used in the RECIST criteria. The association between treatment arm and overall response as per RECIST criteria (response observed versus not observed) will be examined using Fisher's exact test.
Time frame: Up to 2 years
Duration of response
Time frame: From first documented complete response or partial response until disease progression or death, assessed up to 2 years
Progression free survival
The difference in progression free survival across the two groups will be explored graphically using Kaplan-Meier survival plots. Median progression-free survival time for each of the two arms will be reported and Cox Proportional Hazards model will be used to estimate the hazard ratio and its confidence interval.
Time frame: From start of treatment to time of progressive disease or death, assessed up to 2 years
Overall survival
The difference in overall survival across the two groups will be explored graphically using Kaplan-Meier survival plots. Median overall survival time for each of the two arms will be reported. A Cox Proportional Hazards model will be used to estimate the hazard ratio and its 95% confidence interval.
Time frame: From start of treatment to death from any cause, assessed up to 2 years
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