Two-Drug combo aims to shrink upper tract bladder cancer before surgery
NCT ID NCT06356155
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jul 17, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This trial tests whether giving two drugs—enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab—before surgery can improve outcomes for people with upper tract urothelial cancer (a type of bladder cancer in the kidney or ureter). Participants receive the drugs intravenously, then undergo surgery to remove the tumor, followed by more pembrolizumab. The study measures how many patients have a significant tumor response after the drug combination.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- enfortumab vedotin and pembrolizumab
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this combination could become a new pre-surgery treatment option for upper tract urothelial cancer, potentially improving outcomes.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-phase, single-arm trial with only 32 participants. The combination may not prove more effective than standard care and could cause side effects like nerve damage or immune-related reactions.
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 32 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jul 2025
- Expected to finish
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Mar 2028
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: * Patients must have a diagnosis of high-grade upper tract (renal pelvis and/or ureter) urothelial carcinoma proven by biopsy or cytology within 60 days prior to registration with the following (cT1-4 N0-1 M0): a. Upper urinary tract mass on cross-sectional imaging or Tumor directly visualized during upper urinary tract endoscopy before referral to medical oncology. b. No regional lymph node metastasis, a single regional lymph node metastasis, or multiple regional lymph node metastases (no distant lymph node metastases) * Patients must not have any component of small cell carcinoma. Other variant histologic types are permitted provided the predominant (≥50%) subtype is urothelial carcinoma. * Patients must be considered to be a candidate for definitive surgery (nephroureterectomy or distal ureterectomy) with curative intent by the treating urologist. Lymph node dissection is strongly encouraged but its scope and determination will be at the discretion of the treating urologist. Details of the surgery such as bladder cuff removal are left to the discretion of the treating urologist. Robotic or open approaches are allowed. * Prior local endoscopic therapy for upper tract urothelial cancer is permitted if completed at least 6 months prior to the initiation of study treatment and if all toxicities from such therapy have improved to grade 1 or resolved. * Prior uro-oncologic history: a. History of or active non-invasive carcinoma or carcinoma in situ of the bladder/urethra or upper tract is allowed. b. Patients may have received prior intravesical chemotherapy or immunotherapy such as BCG. c. Prior neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy or antibody-drug conjugate for bladder cancer or invasive contralateral upper tract cancer is allowed but must have been completed ≥ 1 year prior to study registration. * Patients must be age ≥ 18 on the date of registration. * ECOG Performance Status 0-1. * Criteria for patients with hepatitis B or C are listed below. Hepatitis B and C screening tests are not required unless there is a known history of HBV or HCV infection or as mandated by local healthy authority. Hepatitis B positive subjects • Participants who are HBsAg positive are eligible if they have received HBV antiviral therapy for at least 4 weeks and have undetectable HBV viral load prior to enrollment. • Participants should remain on anti-viral therapy throughout study intervention and follow local guidelines for HBV anti-viral therapy post completion of study intervention. Participants with history of HCV infection are eligible if HCV viral load is undetectable at screening. • Participants must have completed curative anti-viral therapy at least 4 weeks prior to enrollment. * Patients must have adequate organ and bone marrow function as defined in Table 1. Specimens must be collected within 14 business days prior to start of study enrollment. * Women and men of reproductive potential must agree to use an effective contraceptive method during treatment and for 4 months after the last dose of study drug. See Section 16.3, Appendix 3. Men must also refrain from donating sperm during this period. * Women of reproductive potential must have a negative pregnancy test within 14 days prior to registration and are not breastfeeding. * Patients must not have any other medical condition(s) that make(s) their participation in the study unadvisable in the opinion of the treating oncologist. * All patients must be informed of the investigational nature of this study. The patient must have the ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document. Patients with impaired decision-making capacity who have a legally authorized representative or caregiver and/or family member available will also be considered eligible. Exclusion Criteria: * Prior exposure to immune-mediated therapy, including but not limited to, other anti-cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4), anti-PD1, anti-PD-L1, anti-PD-L2 antibodies, and therapeutic anticancer vaccines. * Prior exposure to monomethyl auristatin E antibody-drug conjugates (MMAE ADC). * Patient is currently on or used immunosuppressive medication within 14 days prior to the first dose of pembrolizumab. The following are exceptions to this criterion: o Intranasal, inhaled, intra-auricular, topical steroids, or local steroid injections (e.g., intra-articular injection). o Use of chronic immunosuppressive agents at baseline at doses not to exceed more than prednisone 10 mg/day or equivalent. o Steroids as premedications for hypersensitivity reactions (e.g., CT scan premedication). * Active or prior documented autoimmune or inflammatory disorders requiring immunosuppressive therapy within 2 years prior to registration. Exceptions are well-controlled hyper/hypothyroidism, celiac disease controlled by diet alone, diabetes mellitus type 1, alopecia, psoriasis, eczema, lichen planus, vitiligo, or similar skin/mucosa conditions. * Evidence of metastasis (M1) on axial imaging at baseline. * History of invasive, node positive, or metastatic bladder cancer OR invasive contralateral upper tract cancer within 2 years prior to registration. * Enrolled in another interventional clinical trial at the time of registration. * Patient has another active malignancy, unless potentially curative treatment has been completed with no evidence of malignancy for 1 year. The time requirement does not apply to participants who underwent successful definitive resection of non-melanoma skin cancers, superficial bladder cancer (described above in inclusion criteria 6), in situ cervical cancer, other in situ cancers, or either clinically insignificant per the investigator (e.g., ≤Gleason 3+4) on surveillance or previously treated prostate cancer without rising PSA and no plan to treat. NOTE: Patients with prior or concurrent malignancy whose natural history or treatment does not have the potential to interfere with the safety or efficacy assessment of the investigational regimen are eligible for this trial. * Patient has one kidney. * Patient is pregnant or lactating. * Has severe hypersensitivity (≥ Grade 3) to enfortumab vedotin, pembrolizumab, and/or any of its excipients. * Has received a live vaccine within 30 days prior to the first dose of study drug. Examples of live vaccines include, but are not limited to, the following: measles, mumps, rubella, varicella/zoster (chicken pox), yellow fever, rabies, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), and typhoid vaccine. Seasonal influenza vaccines for injection are generally killed virus vaccines and are allowed; however, intranasal influenza vaccines are live attenuated vaccines and are not allowed. * Has an active infection requiring systemic therapy. * Has a history or current evidence of any condition or laboratory abnormality that might confound the results of the study, interfere with the subject's participation for the full duration of the study, or is not in the best interest of the subject to participate, in the opinion of the treating investigator. * Has a known history of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection. * Has a known history of active TB (Bacillus Tuberculosis). * Has known psychiatric or substance abuse disorders that would interfere with cooperation with the requirements of the trial. * Has had an allogenic tissue (e.g., hematopoietic stem cell transplant HSCT)/solid organ transplant. * Has ongoing clinically significant toxicity (Grade 2 or higher with the exception of alopecia) associated with prior treatment. * Has known active keratitis or corneal ulcerations * Has any of the following: a. Moderate or severe liver dysfunction (does not meet hepatic function laboratory criteria outlined in Table 1). b. Uncontrolled diabetes mellitus as deemed by Hemoglobin A1c of 8 or greater. c. Grade ≥ 2 peripheral neuropathy. d. New York Heart Association Class III or higher heart failure
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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
2 sites. 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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Fox Chase Cancer Center
RECRUITINGPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, 19111, United States
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University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center
RECRUITINGAnn Arbor, Michigan, 48109, United States
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- New antibody aims to preserve immune checkpoint while fighting cancer
- Can a new drug shrink advanced solid tumors?