New hope for cancer patients who stopped responding to immunotherapy?
NCT ID NCT07219576
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This early-phase trial is testing whether combining two drugs—retifanlimab and ruxolitinib—can safely help people with advanced lung or kidney cancer whose disease has progressed after prior immunotherapy. About 40 participants will take ruxolitinib pills twice daily and receive retifanlimab infusions every four weeks. The main goal is to find the safest dose of ruxolitinib to use with retifanlimab and to see if the combination shrinks tumors.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- retifanlimab and ruxolitinib
- What this could lead to
- If it works, this could point toward a new treatment option for people with advanced lung or kidney cancer whose disease has worsened after immunotherapy.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-phase trial with only 40 participants, so the combination may not prove effective or safe enough for wider use. Side effects from the drugs could be serious.
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 1/2
Runs two stages together: safety and dose first, then whether the treatment works.
- Participants
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About 40 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Jan 2026
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2029
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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Children (under 18), adults (18 to 64) and older adults (65 and over)
- 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: 1. Advanced or metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma or non-small cell lung carcinoma having progressed on prior PD-1/PD-L1 therapy (radiographic progression within 6 months of discontinuing immunotherapy; immunotherapy does not need to be the immediate line of preceding therapy). 2. Decline standard of care treatment or no available standard of care treatment. 3. Measurable disease per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1. 4. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status of 0 or 1. 5. Adequate organ and marrow function: * Absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1.0×10\^9/L. * Platelet count ≥ 100×10\^9/L. * Hemoglobin level ≥ 8.5 g/dL; criteria must be met without erythropoietin dependency and without packed red blood cell transfusion within the last 2 weeks. * Serum creatinine ≤ 2 mg/dL (or estimated creatinine clearance ≥ 30 mL/minute calculated by the Cockcroft Gault or Modification of Diet in Renal Disease formulas). * Aspartate Aminotransferase and Alanine Aminotransferase ≤ 2.5 x upper limit of normal. * Bilirubin ≤1.5 x upper limit of normal. 6. Ability to take oral medication and be willing to adhere to the study intervention. 7. Willingness to comply with all study procedures and availability for the duration of the study. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Pregnancy or lactation. 2. No prior treatment with Janus kinase inhibitors. 3. No more than one prior line of PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. No limit on prior lines of systemic therapy. PD-1/PD-L1 therapy does not need to be the most immediate prior line of therapy. Patients with progressive disease as best response to prior PD-1/PD-L1 therapy are not eligible. Need to have either stable disease, partial response, or complete response as best response using RECIST version 1.1 principles to prior PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. 4. Received systemic anti-cancer therapy within 3 weeks of enrollment or small molecule kinase inhibitors within two weeks or six elimination half-lives of enrollment, whichever is sooner. 5. Has received prior radiotherapy within one week before enrollment. 6. Has had history of major surgery less than two weeks before enrollment. Adequate wound healing after major surgery must be assessed clinically. 7. Failure to recover from any immune related adverse event from prior immunotherapy to Common Terminology Criteria in Adverse Event grade ≤ 1 (participants with grade ≤ 2 sensory neuropathy, endocrinopathies controlled by hormone replacement, or other grade ≤ 2 not constituting a safety risk based on investigator's judgment are eligible). 8. Known active central nervous system metastases and/or carcinomatous meningitis. Patients with previously treated brain metastases may participate, provided they are clinically stable and without the requirement of steroid treatment for at least 14 days prior to enrollment. 9. Known active or history of autoimmune disease that requires steroids or immunosuppressive agents. Patients are allowed in the study if they have vitiligo, type 1 diabetes mellitus, controlled asthma; residual hypo- or hyperthyroidism due to an autoimmune condition not requiring immunosuppressive treatment; psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, or another autoimmune skin condition that is managed without steroids or immunosuppressive agents; or arthritis that is managed without systemic therapy beyond oral acetaminophen and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. 10. Diagnosis of immunodeficiency or receiving systemic steroid therapy (equivalent of prednisone \> 10 mg daily) or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within seven days prior to the first dose of study treatment. The use of physiologic doses of corticosteroids is permitted. Intra-articular, intra-ocular, intra-nasal, inhalation and ocular steroids are permitted. 11. Active infections requiring systemic antibiotics or antifungal or antiviral treatment within 7 days before first dose of study treatment. 12. Active tuberculosis. 13. Active immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. To be enrolled, patients with history of HIV must have an undetectable viral load at screening. 14. Active hepatitis B or hepatitis C virus infections. To be enrolled, patients with a history of these infections must have been treated and cured with undetectable viral load at screening. 15. Have clinically significant cardiovascular disease defined as: * Cerebral vascular accident/stroke or myocardial infarction (\<6 months prior to enrollment) * Unstable angina, congestive heart failure exacerbation (New York Heart Association Classification ≥ Class II), or unstable cardiac arrhythmia (\< 3 months prior to enrollment). Stable cardiac arrhythmia (such as atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter) controlled on or off medications is permitted. 16. Known additional malignancy that is progressing or has required active treatment within the past 2 years. Patients with basal cell carcinoma of the skin, squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, low grade prostate cancer, carcinoma in situ (e.g., breast carcinoma in situ, bladder carcinoma in situ) that have undergone potentially curative therapy or are on active surveillance are not excluded. Patients with cancer not detectable on imaging, not receiving active treatment, and not expected to impact 5-year life expectancy are eligible to enroll. 17. Unable to swallow orally administered medication intact or has a history or current evidence of a gastrointestinal disorder (e.g., inflammatory bowel disease, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, gastrectomy, partial bowel obstruction, malabsorption) or impaired liver function or diseases that in the opinion of the investigator may significantly alter the absorption and metabolism of oral medications. 18. History or evidence of any other clinically unstable/uncontrolled disorder, condition, or disease (including, but not limited to, cardiopulmonary, renal, metabolic, hematologic, or psychiatric) other than their primary malignancy, that in the opinion of the investigator would pose a risk to patient safety or interfere with study evaluations, procedures, or completion. 19. Known allergy or hypersensitivity to any component or formulation components of retifanlimab and ruxolitinib.
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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 study's own enquiry address
This study publishes an address for enquiries. See it below .
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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
Show contact details
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Study contacts
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Contact
Email: •••••@•••••
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Contact
Email: •••••@•••••
Locations
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University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center
RECRUITINGLa Jolla, California, 92093, United States
Contact Email: •••••@•••••
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