Merkel Cell Carcinoma clinical trials at UCSD

This Phase 1B/2 study is a multicenter, open-label, study of RP1 to investigate the (a) objective response rate, in addition to (b) safety and tolerability of RP1 for the treatment of advanced cutaneous malignancies in up to 65 evaluable organ transplant recipients. This will include patients with either previous renal, hepatic, heart, lung, or other solid organ transplantation or hematopoietic cell transplant and experiencing subsequent documented locally advanced or metastatic cutaneous malignancies. The study will enroll a total of 65 evaluable patients. Patients will participate up to approximately 3 years including a 28-day screening period, up to approximately 1 year treatment period, and a 2-year follow-up period.

This phase II trial tests the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab with sirolimus and prednisone for the treatment of skin (cutaneous) cancer that cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable) or that has spread from where it first started to other places in the body (metastatic) in kidney transplant recipients. Immunotherapy with nivolumab and ipilimumab, may induce changes in body's immune system and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Sirolimus and prednisone are immunosuppressants that are given to keep the body from rejecting the transplanted kidney. Giving nivolumab and ipilimumab in combination with sirolimus and prednisone may kill more cancer cells, while also keeping the transplanted kidney healthy, in patients with unresectable or metastatic cutaneous cancer who have received a kidney transplant.

This phase II trial compares tuvusertib in combination with avelumab to tuvusertib alone to determine whether the combination therapy will lengthen the time before the cancer starts getting worse in patients with Merkel cell cancer that has not responded to previous treatment (refractory). Tuvusertib is a drug that inhibits an enzyme called ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3 related (ATR) kinase, which is an enzyme that plays a role in repair of damaged deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) as well as tumor cell replication and survival. It may lead to tumor cell death by inhibiting ATR kinase activity. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as avelumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving tuvusertib in combination with avelumab may lengthen the time before Merkel cell cancer starts getting worse compared to giving avelumab alone.