Adaptive dosing of immunotherapy shows promise for Tough-to-Treat liver cancer

NCT ID NCT07689175

What the study statuses mean

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Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now This study
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Jul 08, 2026 · Last updated Aug 26, 2026 · Updated 3 times

Summary

This trial investigates whether a combination of two immunotherapy drugs, nivolumab and ipilimumab, can control advanced liver cancer in patients with moderate cirrhosis (Child-Pugh B). The dosing is adjusted based on how each patient responds. The study aims to see how many patients achieve disease control, such as tumor shrinkage or stability.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
nivolumab and ipilimumab
What this could lead to
If successful, this could offer a new treatment option for people with advanced liver cancer and moderate cirrhosis who currently have few choices.
What could go wrong
This is a small, early-phase trial, so results may not apply broadly. Immunotherapy can cause serious side effects, including inflammation of organs.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Phase

Phase 2

Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.

Participants

About 60 people

The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.

Started

Aug 2026

Expected to finish

Oct 2032

An estimate. End dates often move.

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Ages

18 years and older

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: 1. Patient must have a diagnosis confirmed by histology or clinically by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) criteria in patients with cirrhosis. Known fibrolamellar HCC or combined HCC-cholangiocarcinoma will be excluded. 2. Patients may not have received any prior anti-PD-1/L1 or anti-CTLA-4 therapies for the treatment of advanced HCC. 3. Patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease must have disease deemed not amenable to surgical and/or locoregional therapies or patients who have progressed following surgical and/or locoregional therapies. 4. Child-Pugh Score B7-8 5. Measurable disease, as defined as lesions that can accurately be measured in at least one dimension according to RECIST v.1.1. 6. Prior locoregional therapy is allowed provided the target lesion has increased in size ≥25% since the cessation of locoregional therapy or the target lesion was not treated with locoregional therapy. Patients treated with palliative radiotherapy for symptoms will be eligible as long as the target lesion is not the treated lesion. 7. Age ≥ 18 years. 8. ECOG performance score 0-2 9. Adequate organ and marrow function as defined below: Platelet count ≥ 40,000/mm3 Hgb ≥ 8 g/dl INR ≤ 2 AST, ALT ≤ 5 times ULN Calculated creatinine clearance (CrCl) ≥ 35 mL/min. CrCl can be calculated using the Cockcroft-Gault method. Albumin ≥ 2.0 g/dl 10. All men, as well as women of child-bearing potential must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry, for the duration of study participation, and for 120 days following completion of therapy. Should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately. 10a. A female of child-bearing potential is any woman (regardless of sexual orientation, marital status, having undergone a tubal ligation, or remaining celibate by choice) who meets the following criteria: * Has not undergone a hysterectomy or bilateral oophorectomy; or * Has not been naturally postmenopausal for at least 12 consecutive months (i.e., has had menses at any time in the preceding 12 consecutive months). 11\. Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Prior solid organ transplant. 2. Hypersensitivity to IV contrast; not suitable for pre-medication. 3. Subjects may not be receiving any other investigational agents for the treatment of the cancer under study. 4. Active autoimmune disease that requires current systemic treatment (ie, with use of disease-modifying agents, corticosteroids, or immunosuppressive drugs), except for conditions that, in the investigator's opinion, do not have a substantial hazardous risk such as asthma, and cutaneous and musculoskeletal rheumatologic conditions. 5. Known human immunodeficiency virus infection (testing not required) in a patient not on antiretroviral therapy and detectable viral load. 6. Prior malignancy that required systemic treatment within the previous year except for locally curable cancers that have been apparently cured, such as basal or squamous cell skin cancer, superficial bladder cancer, or carcinoma in situ of the cervix, breast, or prostate cancer. Preneoplastic or malignant diagnoses that are indolent in nature and do not require active systemic treatment are not excluded. 7. If a participant has symptomatic or clinically active brain metastases including leptomeningeal disease, they must be excluded if: * Has evidence of progression by neurologic symptoms * Has metastatic brain lesions that require immediate intervention. * Has carcinomatous meningitis, regardless of clinical stability 8. Known severe hypersensitivity reactions to monoclonal antibodies (≥Grade 3). 9. Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that, in the opinion of the investigator, would limit compliance with study requirements. 10. Subjects must not be pregnant or nursing due to the potential for congenital abnormalities and the potential of this regimen to harm nursing infants. 11. Prisoners or subjects who are involuntarily incarcerated. 12. Has significant dementia or other mental condition that precludes the participant's ability to consent to the study.

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

How to take part

Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.

  1. The places running it

    1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.

  2. The official record

    ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.

    Open the record ↗

  3. A doctor treating you

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Contacts and locations

Locations

  • University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

    RECRUITING

    Dallas, Texas, 75390, United States

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