Immunotherapy drug tested against rare adrenal cancer
NCT ID NCT02673333
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This phase II trial tests the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab in 39 people with advanced adrenocortical carcinoma that cannot be removed by surgery. The study aims to see if the drug can shrink or control the cancer. Participants receive pembrolizumab and are monitored for tumor response and 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
- pembrolizumab (immunotherapy drug)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could offer a new treatment option for advanced adrenocortical carcinoma, a rare and aggressive cancer with limited therapies.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-phase trial (39 people) with no control group. The drug may not shrink tumors in enough patients to be considered promising, and immunotherapy can cause immune-related 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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39 people
The number who actually took part.
- Start date
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Feb 2016
- Expected to finish
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Feb 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: * Be willing and able to provide written informed consent for the trial. * Be ≥ 18 years of age on day of signing informed consent. * Have histologically- or cytologically- confirmed unresectable or metastatic ACC that is considered incurable by local therapies. * Have an ECOG performance status of 0 or 1. * Have measurable disease based on RECIST v1.1 * Have provided tissue for PD-L1 biomarker analysis from either archived tissue or a newly obtained core or excisional biopsy. * Consent for use of archived tissue for research purposes. * Demonstrate adequate organ function, all screening labs should be performed within 28 days of treatment initiation. Hematological * Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥1,500 /mcL * Platelets ≥100,000 / mcL Renal * Serum creatinine ≤1.5 X upper limit of normal (ULN) OR Measured or calculateda creatinine clearance (GFR can also be used in place of creatinine or CrCl) ≥60 mL/min for subject with creatinine levels \> 1.5 X institutional ULN Hepatic * Serum total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 X ULN OR Direct bilirubin ≤ ULN for subjects with total bilirubin levels \> 1.5 ULN * AST (SGOT) and ALT (SGPT) ≤ 2.5 X ULN OR ≤ 5 X ULN for subjects with liver metastases 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 aCreatinine clearance should be calculated per institutional standard. * Female subjects of childbearing potential should have a negative urine or serum pregnancy test within 72 hours prior to receiving first dose of study medication. If the urine test is positive or cannot be confirmed as negative, a serum pregnancy test will be required. * Female subjects of childbearing potential should be willing to use 2 methods of birth control or be surgically sterile, or abstain from heterosexual activity for the course of the study through 120 days after the last dose of study medication. Subjects of childbearing potential are those who have not been surgically sterilized or have not been free of menses for \>1 year. * Male subjects should agree to use an adequate method of contraception starting with the first dose of study therapy through 120 days after the last dose of study therapy. Exclusion Criteria: * Is currently participating in or has participated in a study of an investigational agent or using an investigational device within 4 weeks prior to the first dose of trial treatment. * Has a diagnosis of immunodeficiency or is receiving systemic steroid therapy or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days prior to the first dose of trial treatment. The use of physiologic doses of corticosteroids for adrenal and pituitary insufficiency is not considered a form of systemic steroid therapy and would not exclude a subject from the study. * Has had a prior monoclonal antibody within 4 weeks prior to study Day 1 or who has not recovered (i.e., ≤ Grade 1 or at baseline) from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier. * Has had prior chemotherapy, targeted small molecule therapy within 2 weeks prior to study Day 1 or who has not recovered (i.e., ≤ Grade 1 or at baseline) from adverse events due to a previously administered agent. °Note: Subjects with ≤ Grade 2 neuropathy or ≤ Grade 2 alopecia are an exception to this criterion and may qualify for the study. * If subject underwent major surgery, they must have recovered adequately from the toxicity and/or complications from the intervention prior to starting therapy. * Has a known additional malignancy that is progressing or requires active treatment. Exceptions include basal cell carcinoma of the skin, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, or in situ cervical cancer that has undergone potentially curative therapy. * Has known active central nervous system metastases and/or carcinomatous meningitis. Subjects with previously treated brain metastases may participate provided they are stable (without evidence of progression by imaging for at least four weeks prior to the first dose of trial treatment and any neurologic symptoms have returned to baseline), have no evidence of new or enlarging brain metastases, and are not using steroids for brain metastases for at least 7 days prior to trial treatment. This exception does not include carcinomatous meningitis which is excluded regardless of clinical stability. * Has an active autoimmune disease requiring systemic treatment within the past 3 months or a documented history of clinically severe autoimmune disease, or a syndrome that requires systemic steroids or immunosuppressive agents. Subjects with vitiligo or resolved childhood asthma/atopy would be an exception to this rule. Subjects that require intermittent use of bronchodilators or local steroid injections would not be excluded from the study. Subjects with hypothyroidism stable on hormone replacement or Sjorgen's syndrome will not be excluded from the study. Subjects that have adrenal or pituitary insufficiency that require physiologic corticosteroid replacement therapy would not be excluded from the study. * Has evidence of interstitial lung disease or history of (non-infectious) pneumonitis that required steroids or current pneumonitis. * Has an active infection requiring systemic therapy. * Has a history or current evidence of any condition, therapy, or laboratory abnormality that might confound the results of the trial, interfere with the subject's participation for the full duration of the trial, or is not in the best interest of the subject to participate, in the opinion of the treating investigator. * 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 received prior therapy with an anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, anti-PD-L2, anti-CD137, or anti-Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) antibody (including ipilimumab or any other antibody or drug specifically targeting T-cell co-stimulation or checkpoint pathways). * Has a known history of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (HIV 1/2 antibodies). * Has known active Hepatitis B (e.g., HBsAg reactive) or Hepatitis C (e.g., HCV RNA \[qualitative\] is detected). * Has received a live vaccine within 30 days prior to the first dose of trial treatment. 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.
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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.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
New York, New York, 10065, United States
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University of Michigan (Data or Specimen Analysis Only)
Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109, United States
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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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