Experimental drug put to the test against Hard-to-Treat GI cancers
NCT ID NCT07826195
First seen Sep 17, 2026 · Last updated Sep 18, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
Researchers are testing an experimental injectable drug called ALK-N001 in adults with advanced gastrointestinal tumors, including esophageal and colorectal cancers that have worsened after standard treatment. The phase II trial gives the drug intravenously every two weeks at one of two dose levels. Doctors track whether tumors shrink or stop growing and monitor side effects.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- an experimental injectable drug called ALK-N001
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could offer a new treatment option for people with advanced gastrointestinal tumors that have grown after standard therapy.
- What could go wrong
- This is a mid-stage trial with no control group, so early tumor shrinkage may not translate into longer lives. The drug can also cause side effects that limit its use.
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 174 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
-
Sep 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
-
Apr 2028
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
-
A company
The lead sponsor is a pharmaceutical, biotech, or medical-device company.
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 Hide 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. Voluntarily sign informed consent, understand the study and be willing and able to comply with all study procedures. 2. Age ≥18 years (male or female) at the time of signing informed consent. 3. Histologically or cytologically confirmed locally advanced or metastatic esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, colorectal adenocarcinoma, or other gastrointestinal tumors. 4. Disease progression or intolerance after prior standard-of-care (SoC) treatment: 1. Cohort1 (ESCC): Not eligible for curative surgery/radiochemotherapy; progressed or intolerant after at least 1st-line platinum-based chemotherapy plus PD-(L)1 inhibitor. If immunotherapy is declined/ineligible, progressed after ≥2 lines of systemic therapy. 2. Cohort2 (CRC): Received standard systemic therapy for metastatic colorectal cancer and experienced progression or intolerance. Must have received fluoropyrimidine, oxaliplatin and irinotecan-based chemotherapy (±bevacizumab/cetuximab), unless contraindicated. For MSI-H/dMMR tumors, prior PD-(L)1 inhibitor is required. 3. Cohort3 (Other GI tumors): Not curable by surgery; disease progression/intolerance after standard-of-care therapy, or no available effective treatment. 5. At least one measurable lesion per RECIST V1.1 (lesions in prior radiation field generally not measurable unless clear progression). 6. ECOG performance status 0 or 1. 7. Expected survival ≥3 months. 8. Adequate organ function: * Bone marrow (no transfusion/growth factors within prior 14 days): ANC ≥1.5×10⁹/L; PLT ≥90×10⁹/L; Hb ≥90 g/L * Liver: TBIL ≤1.5×ULN; ALT ≤3×ULN (≤5×ULN for liver metastasis); AST ≤3×ULN (≤5×ULN for liver metastasis); ALB ≥35 g/L * Renal: Cr ≤1.5×ULN; if Cr\>1.5×ULN, CrCl ≥50 mL/min (Cockcroft-Gault formula) * Coagulation: APTT ≤1.5×ULN; INR ≤1.5×ULN 9. Women of childbearing potential must have negative pregnancy test at screening and agree to effective contraception or abstinence from consent until 6 months after last dose. Male participants must use effective contraception or abstinence from consent until 6 months after last dose; no sperm donation. Exclusion Criteria: * 1\. Received chemotherapy, radiotherapy (palliative local radiotherapy within prior 2 weeks), biotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, TIL or other anti-tumor therapies within 4 weeks before first dose. 1. Anti-endocrine therapy within 2 weeks or 5 half-lives; oral CDK4/6i, small molecule targeted agents, anti-tumor Chinese medicine. 2. CAR-T, CAR-NK or tumor vaccine within prior 3 months. 3. Live vaccine within 2 weeks; non-live vaccine within 4 weeks before first dose. 4. Investigational drug within 4 weeks or 5 half-lives before first dose (whichever shorter). 2\. Use of strong CYP3A4 inducer/inhibitor within 7 days before first dose or planned during study. 3\. Prior treatment with DXD-containing ADC or PDC. 4. Active infection at screening requiring systemic anti-infective therapy within 2 weeks prior to first dose. 5\. Known BRAF mutation or NTRK fusion positive colorectal cancer (Cohort2). 6. Unstable or progressive CNS/leptomeningeal metastases (stable brain metastases ≥1 month, no new/enlarging lesions and off steroids ≥4 weeks may enroll). 7\. Clinically uncontrolled third-space effusion requiring therapeutic paracentesis/drainage within prior 14 days. 8\. Prior or current interstitial lung disease (ILD), non-infectious pneumonitis requiring steroids, suspected ILD or severely impaired pulmonary function. 9\. Severe GI disease including chronic inflammatory bowel disease, bowel obstruction or chronic diarrhea. 10\. Esophageal stent placement, tracheal stent or esophageal stricture (Cohort1). 11\. Severe cardiovascular disease: <!-- --> 1. Clinically significant cardiac arrhythmias or 2nd/3rd degree AV block requiring intervention. 2. Acute coronary syndrome, heart failure, stroke or grade ≥3 cardiovascular event within 6 months. 3. NYHA Class ≥II heart failure (exception: stable NYHA II, LVEF≥50%, no exacerbation ≥6 months after optimized medical treatment, confirmed by cardiologist). 4. Uncontrolled hypertension: SBP≥150 mmHg and/or DBP≥100 mmHg. 12. History of GI perforation/fistula within 6 months before first dose, or tumor invading adjacent organs (great vessel/trachea) with high risk of bleeding/fistula. 13\. History of severe thromboembolism within prior 6 months; known inherited/acquired thrombophilia. 14\. Other malignancy within past 5 years (exception: cured cervical carcinoma in situ, cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, papillary thyroid carcinoma). 15\. Prior allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell or solid organ transplantation. 16. Prior anti-tumor adverse events not recovered to ≤ Grade1 (NCI-CTCAE v6.0, alopecia and investigator-assessed non-risk toxicities excluded) or not meeting eligibility lab criteria.
Get updates
Get notified about this study
Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Advanced gastrointestinal tumors are added.
By submitting, you agree to our Terms of use
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.
-
The official record
The full official record for this study. This one lists no contact details, but it is the first place any would appear.
-
A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Can a drug combo shrink esophageal tumors before surgery?
- Can berry compounds tame inflammation during colorectal cancer care?
- Can a vaccine stop GI cancers from returning?
- Blood test guides immunotherapy for hidden cancer cells
- Two-Drug combo targets esophageal cancer that outsmarted immunotherapy
- Can blocking a cancer cell survival protein open a new path for colorectal cancer?