Supercharged immune cells take on Hard-to-Treat lung cancer
NCT ID NCT05681780
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Sep 17, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This early-stage trial is testing a new approach for people with advanced non-small cell lung cancer that has specific gene changes (EGFR, ALK, ROS1, or HER2). Doctors take immune cells from the patient's own tumor, boost them in the lab with a molecule called CD40L, and then give them back along with the immunotherapy drug nivolumab. The goal is to see if this combination is safe and can shrink tumors. The study is currently recruiting 20 participants.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) boosted with CD40L, plus nivolumab (Opdivo), cyclophosphamide, and fludarabine
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a new treatment option for people with advanced lung cancer that has specific gene changes and has stopped responding to standard therapies.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very early Phase 1 trial with only 20 participants, so it is primarily testing safety, not effectiveness. The treatment involves strong chemotherapy and immune therapy, which can cause 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 1
The first testing in people. Mainly checks safety and dose, usually in a small group.
- Participants
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About 20 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Mar 2023
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2027
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: * Age greater than or equal to 18 years * Diagnosis of stage IV or recurrent non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with an activating genomic alteration within either: EGFR, ALK, ROS1, or ERBB2 receptor tyrosine kinase domains * ECOG performance status of 0 or 1 * Expected survival ≥ 4 months * Participants must have had disease progression after at least one prior line of systemic therapy for NSCLC, including appropriate prior targeted therapy for cases in which a targeted therapy is conventionally used for this genomic alteration, prior to initiating nivolumab trial therapy * Measurable disease, not including any lesion that is used for TIL harvest, prior to initiation of nivolumab trial therapy * In accordance with the criteria above, safely accessible tumor for TIL harvest by excisional biopsy expected to yield 1.5 cm3 of tissue, in aggregate * Participants with known brain metastases are eligible for study enrollment if the brain metastases have received appropriate central nervous system-directed therapy or are found to be clinically stable ≤ 10 mm when comparing scans obtained during the screening period with a scan obtained ≥28 days prior, or if the treating physician determines that immediate CNS-specific treatment is not required prior to the first cycle of therapy. Please also refer to eligibility section on corticosteroids below. * Adequate normal organ and marrow function as defined below: * a. Hemoglobin ≥ 9.0 g/dL, with transfusions permissible; * b. Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥ 1000 per mm3); * c. Platelet count ≥ 75,000 per mm3, without platelet transfusions for 7 days; * d. Prothrombin Time ≤ 1.7x the institutional upper limit of normal (ULN), unless participant is receiving intended anticoagulant therapy. * e. Serum bilirubin ≤ 2.0x the institutional ULN, or ≤ 4.0x ULN if confirmed Gilbert's syndrome (persistent or recurrent hyperbilirubinemia that is predominantly unconjugated in the absence of hemolysis or hepatic pathology) with PI approval. * f. AST/ALT ≤ 2.5x institutional ULN unless liver metastases are present, in which case it must be ≤ 5x ULN * g. Serum creatinine of ≤ 1.5x institutional ULN, or ≥30 mL/min for participant with creatinine levels \>1.5 × institutional ULN * h. Albumin ≥ 2.0 g/dl * Pulmonary function tests within past 4 months showing DLCO ≥45% of predicted. Adjusted DLCO based on hemoglobin concentration should be used, if available. * Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected participants must be receiving on effective antiretroviral therapy for past 6 months with undetectable viral load and normal CD4 count * Participants with history of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection must have undetectable HBV viral load on suppressive therapy, if indicated, and no overt cirrhosis * Participants with a history of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection must have been treated and cured. For participants with HCV infection who are currently on treatment, they must have an undetectable HCV viral load and no overt cirrhosis * Participants with a prior or concurrent malignancy must have a natural history which does not have the potential to interfere with safety or efficacy assessment of the investigational regimen Exclusion Criteria: * No more than six prior lines of systemic therapy for NSCLC * No prior PD-1 or PD-L1 inhibitor treatment for metastatic NSCLC. Examples of inhibitors include: nivolumab, atezolizumab, pembrolizumab, avelumab, cemplimumab, spartalizumab, or durvalumab. * Participants with rapidly progressing tumors, as judged by the investigator * Active or prior documented autoimmune disease within the past 2 years. NOTE: Subjects with vitiligo, Grave's disease, limited site eczema, or limited site plaque psoriasis not requiring systemic treatment (within the past 2 years), or other autoimmune conditions which are not expected to recur, are allowed after approval from the medical monitor or PI * Active leptomeningeal or pachymeningeal metastases, or carcinomatous meningitis. This is due to prognostic implications and timeline for cell therapy * Has a diagnosis of primary immunodeficiency or is receiving chronic systemic steroid therapy or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days prior to enrollment. * a. Oral hydrocortisone, only for the purposes of a documented adrenal insufficiency diagnosis, is permitted if ≤ 25 mg daily total dose * b. Inhaled, intranasal, or topical corticosteroids are permitted * Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia (other than atrial fibrillation or supraventricular tachycardia), and significant ≥85% carotid artery stenosis * Unresolved toxicity (grade 2) from previous anti-cancer therapy. Participants with irreversible toxicity that is not reasonably expected to be exacerbated by the investigational product may be included (e.g., hearing loss, peripheral neuropathy) * Mean QT interval corrected for heart rate (QTc) ≥480 ms calculated from electrocardiograms (EKGs) using Bazett's Correction * Participants with active systemic infections requiring intravenous antibiotics within 1 week prior to nivolumab. Prophylactic, empiric, or suppressive antibiotics are permitted with sponsor approval * History of allogeneic organ transplant * Participants with psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements * Participants with a history of anaphylaxis to beta-lactam antibiotics. Patients may be evaluated for reported history by conducting a history and physical, and a skin test/challenge where appropriate under medical guidance
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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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Moffitt Cancer Center
RECRUITINGTampa, Florida, 33612, United States
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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