Immunotherapy may treat skin cancer in kidney transplant patients without rejection
NCT ID NCT07715734
First seen Jul 20, 2026 · Last updated Jul 21, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This trial investigates whether the immunotherapy drug cemiplimab can shrink advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in people who have received a kidney transplant. Because immunotherapy can trigger organ rejection, participants also receive the steroid prednisone to protect the transplanted kidney. The study aims to see if this approach can fight the cancer while keeping the kidney safe.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- cemiplimab (an immunotherapy drug) given with prednisone (a steroid to protect the transplanted kidney)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could offer a new treatment option for kidney transplant recipients with advanced skin cancer, a group often excluded from immunotherapy due to rejection risk.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-phase trial, so results may not apply broadly. The combination of immunotherapy and steroids may still cause kidney rejection or other serious side effects.
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
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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About 22 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Sep 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Mar 2031
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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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
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18 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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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: * Histologically confirmed locoregionally advanced and unresectable or recurrent/metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). Definitions that encompass unresectable disease include any of the following, after discussion at the multidisciplinary meeting: * Anatomically unresectable disease to include carotid artery encasement; invasion into the skull base, cavernous sinus, sagittal sinus; pre-vertebral fascia/vertebral body/vertebral artery; disseminated distant metastatic disease * Functionally unresectable disease resulting in the loss of sight, oral competency/speech/swallowing, or limb * Biologically unresectable disease to include satellitosis, in-transit/dermal metastasis, or disease which has failed 2 or more prior surgeries (by an experienced CSCC surgeon) or failed curative intent radiation therapy * Measurable disease per RECIST 1.1. * Received a kidney transplant. Must have a functioning allograft, be at least 6 months from last allograft transplantation, and have had no evidence of biopsy-proven allograft rejection (Banff 1A or above, requiring treatment) at any time. In order to be considered a functioning allograft, the following criteria must be met: * Estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) ≥ 30 mL/min (using the CKD-EPI equation either by Cr or Cystatin C based measurement) (Inker LA et al, 2021) * Baseline proteinuria \< 0.5 g/day (by spot urine protein-creatinine ratio or 24-hr urine collection, if available) * Not receiving antiproliferative immunosuppressive medications. If patients are on antiproliferative immunosuppressive medications, they must be discontinued for at least 7 days before initiation of C1D1 (i.e. at the screening visit and/or during the lead-in period) * At least 18 years of age. * ECOG performance status ≤ 2 * Adequate bone marrow and organ function as defined below: * Leukocytes ≥ 2.2 K/cumm * Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1.0 K/cumm * Platelets ≥ 90 K/cumm * Total bilirubin within normal institutional limits (except in cases where Gilbert syndrome is known or suspected, where total bilirubin should be \< 3 mg/dL) * AST(SGOT)/ALT(SGPT) ≤ 2.5 x IULN * The effects of cemiplimab on the developing human fetus are unknown. For this reason, people of childbearing potential and people able to father a child must agree to use highly effective contraception prior to study entry, for the duration of study participation, and for 4 months after last dose of cemiplimab. * Able to switch immunosuppression regimen to sirolimus and prednisone if not already receiving sirolimus and prednisone as SOC. * Able to understand and willing to sign an IRB approved written informed consent document and willing and able to comply with clinic visits and study-related procedures. Legally authorized representatives may sign and give informed consent on behalf of study participants. Exclusion Criteria: * Received chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 2 weeks prior to C1D1. Note: prior cetuximab exposure is permitted, but it must have been discontinued at least 2 weeks prior to the start of cemiplimab. * Received prior anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, anti-PD-L2, anti-CLTA-4 antibody, or any other antibody or drug specifically targeting T-cell co-stimulation or checkpoint pathways (including chimeric antigen receptor \[CAR\] T-cell therapies). Note: prior topical or intralesional immunotherapies (e.g., imiquimod, talimogene laherparepvec) are permitted. * Prior or concurrent malignancy whose natural history has the potential to interfere with the safety or efficacy assessment of the investigational regimen. Patients with prior or concurrent malignancy that does NOT meet that definition are eligible for this trial * Currently receiving any other investigational agents. * Unable to swallow pills. * Currently receiving any medications or substances that are strong inhibitors or inducers of CYP3A4. * Receipt of a live vaccine within 28 days of C1D1. * Receipt of COVID-19 vaccination within 7 days of C1D1 or for which the planned COVID-19 vaccinations would not be completed 7 days prior to C1D1. * Patients with untreated brain metastases. Patients with treated brain metastases are allowed if post-treatment brain-imaging after CNS-directed therapy shows no evidence of progression and if they are at least 4 weeks out from treatment. They must also be asymptomatic and on stable doses of anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) and oral corticosteroids at the time of enrollment * A history of allergic reactions attributed to or known hypersensitivity to cemiplimab or any of its components or other agents used in the study. * Ongoing or recent evidence of significant autoimmune disease that required treatment with systemic immunosuppressive treatments. Note: the following are not exclusionary: vitiligo, childhood asthma that has resolved, endocrinopathies (such as hypothyroidism or type 1 diabetes) that require only hormone replacement, or psoriasis that does not require systemic treatment. Patients with a history of Hashimoto thyroiditis who are stable on replacement hormone therapy are not excluded. * Any condition that requires ongoing/continuous corticosteroid therapy (\> 10 mg prednisone/day or anti-inflammatory equivalent) within 7 days prior to C1D1. Patients who require a brief course of steroids (up to 2 days in the week before C1D1) or physiologic replacement are not excluded. * Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including but not limited to ongoing or active infection requiring hospitalization or treatment with IV anti-infectives within 14 days prior to C1D1; NYHA heart failure classifications of Class II, III, or IV; myocardial infarction or acute coronary syndrome within 12 months prior to C1D1; unstable angina pectoris; cardiac arrhythmia; transient ischemic attack or stroke within 12 months prior to C1D1. * Known non-infectious pneumonitis or any history of interstitial lung disease. * Pregnant and/or breastfeeding. Women of childbearing potential must have a negative serum pregnancy test within 14 days of study entry. * Uncontrolled infection with HIV, hepatitis B or C infection, diagnosis of immunodeficiency, and/or tuberculosis (active or latent). * Participants with known controlled HIV infection (undetectable viral load on HIV RNA PCR) and CD4 count \> 350 either spontaneously or on a stable antiviral regiment are eligible. For these participants, monitoring will be performed as per local standards. * Participants with HBsAg positive who have controlled infection (serum HBV DNA PCR that is below the limit of detection and receiving anti-viral therapy for hepatitis B) are eligible. Participants with controlled infections must undergo periodic monitoring of HBV DNA. Participants must remain on anti-viral therapy for at least 6 months beyond the last dose of cemiplimab. * Participants with HBsAg negative but total HBcAb positive are permitted with the following requirements: if serum HBV DNA is above the limit of detection at screening, initiate HBV antiviral therapy before study entry. If serum HBV DNA PCR is below the limit of detection, periodic monitoring of HBsAg must be performed. * Participants who are HCV Ab+ who have controlled infection (undetectable HCV RNA by PCR either spontaneously or in response to a successful prior course of anti-HCV therapy) are eligible.
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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.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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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.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Washington University School of Medicine
St Louis, Missouri, 63110, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Can digital tools and training help more kidney patients get transplants?
- Can a new preservation fluid keep donor kidneys healthier for transplant?
- Oxygen bath for donor kidneys: a new hope for transplant success?
- Can smarter monitoring of transplant drugs prevent rejection in kids?