Immunotherapy combo shows limited promise for rare brain lining cancer

NCT ID NCT02939300

What the study statuses mean

This study's is highlighted.

Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now
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 This study
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 Results may not be published yet.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This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.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 Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026 · Updated 1 time

Summary

This phase 2 trial tested a combination of two immunotherapy drugs, ipilimumab and nivolumab, in 18 adults with leptomeningeal metastases—cancer that has spread to the lining of the brain and spinal cord. The study aimed to see if this drug combo could improve survival. Results showed only a modest benefit, and the treatment can cause serious 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
Ipilimumab and Nivolumab (immunotherapy drugs)
What this could lead to
If successful, this combination could offer a new treatment option for patients with cancer that has spread to the lining of the brain and spinal cord.
What could go wrong
This was a small, early-phase trial with only 18 participants. The drugs can cause serious immune-related side effects, and the overall survival benefit was modest.

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

18 people

The number who actually took part.

Started

Feb 2018

Finished

Jul 2021

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: * Participants must have histologically or cytologically confirmed disease from any solid tumor * Age ≥18 years. * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status ≤2 (Karnofsky ≥60%) * Life expectancy of greater than 3 weeks * Participants must have normal organ and marrow function as defined below, all screening labs should be performed within 10 days of treatment initiation. Adequate Organ Function Laboratory Values: Unit key: mcL = microliter, ULN = upper limit normal * Hematological * Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥1500 /mcL * Platelets ≥100,000 / mcL * Hemoglobin ≥9 g/dL or ≥5.6 mmol/L without transfusion or Erythropoietin (EPO) dependency (within 7 days of assessment) * Renal * Serum creatinine OR Measured or calculated creatinine clearance (GFR can also be used in place of creatinine or CrCl) ≤ Serum creatinine ≤ 1.5 x ULN or creatinine clearance (CrCl) ≥ 40 mL/min (if using the Cockcroft-Gault formula below): * Female CrCl = (140 - age in years) x weight in kg x 0.85 72 x serum creatinine in mg/dL * Male CrCl = (140 - age in years) x weight in kg x 1.00 72 x serum creatinine in mg/dL * Hepatic * Serum total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 X ULN OR Direct bilirubin ≤ ULN for subjects with total bilirubin levels \> 1.5 ULN * Aspartate transaminase (AST) and Alanine transaminase (ALT) ≤ 3 ULN OR ≤ 5 X ULN for subjects with liver metastases * Albumin ≥ 2.5 mg/dL * Coagulation * International Normalized Ratio (INR) or Prothrombin Time (PT) ≤1.5 X ULN unless subject is receiving anticoagulant therapy as long as PT or PTT is within therapeutic range of intended use of anticoagulants * Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (aPTT) ≤1.5 X ULN unless subject is receiving anticoagulant therapy as long as PT or PTT is within therapeutic range of intended use of anticoagulants * Creatinine clearance should be calculated per institutional standard. * Women of childbearing potential (WOCBP) must use appropriate method(s) of contraception. WOCBP should use an adequate method to avoid pregnancy for 23 weeks (30 days plus the time required for Nivolumab to undergo five half-lives) after the last dose of investigational drug. * Women of childbearing potential must have a negative serum or urine pregnancy test (minimum sensitivity 25 IU/L or equivalent units of HCG) within 24 hours prior to the start of Nivolumab * Women must not be breastfeeding * Men who are sexually active with WOCBP must use any contraceptive method with a failure rate of less than 1% per year. Men receiving nivolumab and who are sexually active with WOCBP will be instructed to adhere to contraception for a period of 31 weeks after the last dose of investigational product. Women who are not of childbearing potential, ie, who are postmenopausal or surgically sterile as well as azoospermic men do not require contraception * Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document. * Stable dose of dexamethasone 2 mg or less for 7 days prior to initiation of treatment * Carcinomatous meningitis, as defined by positive cytology Exclusion Criteria: * Participants who have had chemotherapy, targeted small molecule therapy or study therapy within 14 days of protocol treatment, or those who have not recovered (i.e., ≤ Grade 1 or at baseline) from adverse events due to agents administered more than 2 weeks earlier. Subjects with ≤ Grade 2 neuropathy are an exception to this criterion and may qualify for the study. If subject received major surgery, they must have recovered adequately from the toxicity and/or complications from the intervention prior to starting therapy. * Participants who are receiving any other investigational agents. * Patients should be excluded if they have an active, known or suspected autoimmune disease. Subjects are permitted to enroll if they have vitiligo, type I diabetes mellitus, residual hypothyroidism due to autoimmune condition only requiring hormone replacement, psoriasis not requiring systemic treatment, or conditions not expected to recur in the absence of an external trigger * Patients should be excluded if they have a condition requiring systemic treatment with either corticosteroids (\> 10 mg daily prednisone equivalents) or other immunosuppressive medications within 14 days of study drug administration. Inhaled or topical steroids and adrenal replacement doses \> 10 mg daily prednisone equivalents are permitted in the absence of active autoimmune disease. Subjects are permitted to use topical, ocular, intra-articular, intranasal, and inhalational corticosteroids (with minimal systemic absorption). Physiologic replacement doses of systemic corticosteroids are permitted, even if \> 10 mg/day prednisone equivalents. A brief course of corticosteroids for prophylaxis (eg, contrast dye allergy) or for treatment of non-autoimmune conditions (eg, delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction caused by contact allergen) is permitted. * As there is potential for hepatic toxicity with nivolumab or nivolumab/ipilimumab combinations, drugs with a predisposition to hepatoxicity should be used with caution in patients treated with nivolumab-containing regimen. * Patients should be excluded if they have had prior systemic treatment with an anti-CTLA4 antibody * Has a known history of active TB (Bacillus Tuberculosis) * Patients should be excluded if they are positive test for hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBV sAg) or hepatitis C virus ribonucleic acid (HCV antibody) indicating acute or chronic infection * Patients should be excluded if they have known history of testing positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or known acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). These participants are at increased risk of lethal infections when treated with marrow-suppressive therapy. Appropriate studies will be undertaken in participants receiving combination antiretroviral therapy when indicated. * 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 would limit compliance with study requirements. * Has known psychiatric or substance abuse disorders that would interfere with cooperation with the requirements of the trial. * Is pregnant or breastfeeding, or expecting to conceive or father children within the projected duration of the trial, starting with the pre-screening or screening visit through 120 days after the last dose of trial treatment. * Has a known additional malignancy that is progressing or requires active treatment. Exceptions include basal cell carcinoma of the skin or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin that has undergone potentially curative therapy or in situ cervical cancer. * Has known history of, or any evidence of active, non-infectious pneumonitis. * Has an active infection requiring systemic therapy. * Has received a live vaccine within 30 days of planned start of study therapy. Note: Seasonal influenza vaccines for injection are generally inactivated flu vaccines and are allowed; however intranasal influenza vaccines (e.g., Flu-Mist®) are live attenuated vaccines, and are not allowed. * History of allergy to study drug components * History of severe hypersensitivity reaction to any monoclonal antibody

Get updates

Get notified about this study

Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Leptomeningeal carcinomatosis are added.

Our safety recommendation!

By submitting, you agree to our Terms of use

Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

Meningeal Carcinomatosis neoplastic meningitis

As listed by the trial registrant

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

Contacts and locations

Locations

  • Dana Farber Cancer Institute

    Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, United States

  • Massachusetts general Hospital

    Boston, Massachusetts, 02114, United States

More trials for these conditions

Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.