Can Stress-Blockers help fight melanoma? early trial launches
NCT ID NCT05968690
First seen Jun 26, 2026 · Last updated Jun 26, 2026
Summary
This early-phase trial tests whether adding two stress-blocking drugs—naltrexone and propranolol—to standard immunotherapy (ipilimumab and nivolumab) is safe for people with advanced melanoma. The study aims to find the best dose and check for side effects in 12 participants. If successful, it may lead to larger studies exploring a new way to improve cancer treatment.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- naltrexone and propranolol
- What this could lead to
- If this combination is safe, it could point toward a new way to boost the immune system's fight against advanced melanoma by blocking stress signals.
- What could go wrong
- This is a very early phase 1 trial with only 12 people, so it's mainly checking safety, not effectiveness. The added drugs may cause side effects or not improve outcomes.
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 1
The first testing in people. Mainly checks safety and dose, usually in a small group.
- Participants
-
About 12 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
-
Sep 2023
- Expected to finish
-
Sep 2027
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 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 of 18 years or older and able to understand and sign the informed consent form. * Histologically confirmed diagnosis of unresectable stage III or stage IV melanoma. * Candidate for standard of care therapy with ipilimumab 3 mg/kg + nivolumab 1 mg/kg. * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0-1. * Treatment-naïve or has received any number of prior lines of therapy. Prior targeted therapy is allowed, but small molecule inhibitors must be discontinued within two weeks before starting the study. * Life expectancy of at least 6 months. * Presence of at least one accessible site of disease to provide an on-study biopsy for tumor tissue. The biopsy may be waived after discussion with the Principal Investigator (PI) if it is deemed unfeasible. The site may be a target lesion as long as it will not be rendered unmeasurable by the biopsy procedure. * Willingness to undergo tumor biopsy (if archival tumor is not available) prior to initiation of therapy and while on the study. * Willingness to provide an archival specimen block, if available, for research purposes. * Normal organ function, defined as: 1. Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) \>1500/mcL 2. Platelets \>100,000/mcL 3. Hemoglobin (Hb) \>9 g/dL 4. Albumin \>2.5 mg/dL 5. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) \<2.5 times the upper limit of normal (ULN) 6. Serum total bilirubin \<1.5 times ULN or direct bilirubin \< ULN for subjects with total bilirubin levels \>1.5 times ULN. * Female participants of childbearing potential should have a negative serum pregnancy test within 72 hours prior to receiving the first dose of study medication. * Female participants of childbearing potential should be willing to use a highly effective form of contraception (hormonal or intrauterine device) along with a condom in their male partner, or be surgically sterile, or abstain from heterosexual activity for a period of at least six months after the last dose of study medication. * Male participants should agree to use an adequate method of contraception starting with the first dose of study therapy through at least six months after the last dose of study drug. * Participants must have at least one measurable lesion at baseline by computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) v1.1 criteria. Tumor sites situated in a previously irradiated area or in an area subjected to other loco-regional therapy are not considered measurable unless there has been demonstrated progression in the lesion. * Prior focal radiotherapy is allowed. Exclusion Criteria: * Presence of untreated brain metastases, unless discussed with the Principal Investigator (PI) and meet specific criteria for inclusion (treatment-naïve patients with brain metastases \<10 mm, asymptomatic, without significant edema, hemorrhage, shift, or requirement for steroids or anti-seizure medications, and not in eloquent areas). These patients may potentially forego initial local treatment of the brain metastases and have them reassessed after consultation with the Neurosurgery and Radiation Oncology teams. * Use of corticosteroids to control immune-related adverse events at enrollment. Participants who previously required corticosteroids for symptom control must be off steroids for at least two weeks. Low-dose steroid use (=10 mg of prednisone or equivalent) as corticosteroid replacement therapy for primary or secondary adrenal insufficiency is allowed. * Failure to recover (i.e., Grade 1 or at baseline) from adverse events due to prior treatment. * History of grade 3-4 neurologic or cardiac toxicity or life-threatening liver toxicity poorly responsive to steroids with prior anti-PD-1 therapy. * Presence of leptomeningeal disease. * Active autoimmune disease unrelated to the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors that has required systemic treatment in the past year (e.g., use of disease-modifying agents, corticosteroids, or immunosuppressive drugs). Replacement therapy (e.g., thyroxine, insulin, or physiologic corticosteroid replacement therapy for adrenal or pituitary insufficiency) is not considered a form of systemic treatment. * Contraindications to the use of propranolol, including: 1. Cardiogenic shock. 2. Sinus bradycardia greater than first-degree block. 3. Severe bronchial asthma. 4. Known hypersensitivity to propranolol. 5. Requirement for current use of an alternative beta-blocker. 6. Uncontrolled diabetes. 7. Uncontrolled depression. 8. Unstable angina or myocardial infarction within 3 months of Day 1 Cycle 1. * For enrollment into Cohort 2-4 ONLY: Contraindications to the use of naltrexone, including: 1. Participants currently receiving opioid analgesics or anticipated to require opioid analgesics in the near future. 2. Participants currently dependent on opioids, including those currently maintained on opiate agonists (e.g., methadone) or partial agonists (e.g., buprenorphine). 3. Participants in acute opioid withdrawal. 4. Individuals with a history of sensitivity to naltrexone. * Pregnancy or breastfeeding. If a woman becomes pregnant or suspects she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately. Breastfeeding must be discontinued if the mother is enrolled in this trial due to the potential risk for adverse events in nursing infants. * Receipt of any other investigational agents or participation in a study of an investigational agent or use of an investigational device within four weeks of the first dose of treatment. * Concurrent condition (including medical illness, active infection requiring treatment with intravenous antibiotics, or presence of laboratory abnormalities) or history of a prior condition that places the patient at unacceptable risk if treated with the study drug or confounds the ability to interpret data from the study. * Concurrent, active malignancies in addition to those being studied, except for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma or basal cell carcinoma. * Active (non-infectious) pneumonitis. * Hepatitis B (HBV) or Hepatitis C (HCV) acute or chronic infection. * Receipt of a live vaccine
Get updates
Get notified about this study
Sign up to get updates when this study changes or when new studies for Advanced melanoma are added.
Genom att skicka in godkänner du våra Användarvillkor
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 places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
-
The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
-
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
-
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
RECRUITINGNew Brunswick, New Jersey, 08903, United States
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Can a PET scan find the best tumor site for harvesting Cancer-Fighting cells?
- Can a DNA vaccine teach the immune system to hunt melanoma?
- Can a new biologic drug shrink advanced melanoma tumors?
- Engineered immune cells take aim at Hard-to-Treat cancers
- Could a diabetes drug boost immunotherapy in advanced melanoma?
- New combo therapy takes on advanced cancers