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Infliximab for Treatment of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Colitis

Phase II Study of Infliximab for the Treatment of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Colitis

Status
Active, not recruiting
Phases
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04305145
Enrollment
42
Registered
2020-03-12
Start date
2020-08-31
Completion date
2030-06-30
Last updated
2026-06-16

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Drug-Induced Colitis, Drug Toxicity, Immune-related Adverse Event, Melanoma Stage III, Melanoma Stage IV, Skin Cancer Stage III, Skin Cancer Stage IV

Keywords

Melanoma, Skin cancer, Drug toxicity, Colitis, Immune checkpoint inhibitor, Immunotherapy toxicity, Immune-related adverse event

Brief summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to compare the safety and effectiveness of infliximab compared to steroids for the treatment of immune checkpoint inhibitor-induced colitis (ICI colitis) in patients with stage III/IV skin cancer. The main questions this study aims to answer are: * How many patients treated with infliximab experience steroid-free disease resolution after 7 weeks? * How many patients treated with steroids experience steroid-free disease resolution after 7 weeks?

Detailed description

This is a phase II, randomized, signal-detection trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the drugs infliximab, methylprednisolone, and prednisone to manage the side of effect of colitis caused by immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) that target a protein called CTLA-4. An example of one of these ICIs is ipilimumab, which has been approved by the FDA to treat metastatic melanoma. The names of the treatments involved in this study are: * Infliximab * Methylprednisolone * Prednisone The FDA has approved infliximab, methylprednisolone, and prednisone to treat many conditions affecting the immune system, including colitis. Participants will receive a CTLA-4 inhibitor, like ipilimumab, and any other cancer treatments as part of their regular care for stage III/IV skin cancer at the discretion of treating oncologist. Participants who enroll in this study will undergo one or more flexible sigmoidoscopies or colonoscopies as part of their clinical care. The first of these procedures would occur at the time of study enrollment, and the second may occur after several weeks of treatment at the discretion of the study doctor. During these procedures, biopsies will be collected for clinical purposes as well as for research purposes. Blood will also be collected for research at the time of enrollment and at the time of study completion. Any extra samples for research would only be collected if it is safe for the participant. Participants will also complete weekly follow-ups either over the phone or in-person that may last about 10 minutes. During these visits, participants will be asked about any new symptoms or changes in their health, their medications, and their GI symptoms. Blood for research may be collected at one or more of these visits if it coincides with a scheduled clinical blood draw. Participants are expected to be on study treatment for approximately 7 weeks. Once participants complete the study treatment, the study team will review their medical records every 6 months for any changes in their health. It is expected that about 42 people will take part in this research study.

Interventions

DRUGInfliximab

Infusion

DRUGMethylprednisolone

Infusion

DRUGPrednisone

Orally

Sponsors

Massachusetts General Hospital
Lead SponsorOTHER
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
CollaboratorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Age ≥ 18 * Stage III/IV skin cancer * Treatment with CTLA-4 inhibitor alone or in combination with PD-1or PD-L1 blockade within the past 8 weeks * Clinically significant diarrhea resulting in the decision to pause immunotherapy treatment * Endoscopically visible colitis (Mayo 1-3) at the time of screening

Exclusion criteria

* Prior history of inflammatory colitis related to immune checkpoint inhibitors requiring treatment with \> 10 mg/day of prednisone or equivalent, or any other immunosuppressive medication * Concurrent immune-related Adverse Event (irAE) requiring treatment with systemic corticosteroids (dose equivalent of prednisone 10 mg/day or higher) or another systemic immune suppressing medication within the past 10 days * Current use of any immune suppressing biologic medication, or use within the last 4 weeks; immune stimulating medications such as checkpoint blockade are explicitly permitted * Current use of combination treatment with an investigation immunotherapy targeting a pathway other than PD-1 or PD-L1, concurrent chemotherapy, or targeted therapy * Previous adverse reaction to infliximab or corticosteroids * Colonic perforation or abscess present at the time of screening * History of Hepatitis B or C with a positive viral load, untreated mycobacterium tuberculosis, or active herpes zoster infection * Current bacterial infection requiring antibiotic treatment, or systemic fungal infection * Prior history of inflammatory bowel disease, microscopic colitis or segmental colitis associated with diverticulosis * Received more than 3 doses of systemic corticosteroids, or receive dsystemic corticosteroids at a dose exceeding 2mg/kg methylprednisolone or equivalent, within 72 hours prior to endoscopy

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Proportion of patients with Steroid-Free Colitis7 weeksProportion of Patients with Steroid-Free Colitis at seven weeks with steroid-free colitis remission defined as less than 7.5 mg a day of prednisone or equivalent and grade-1 or lower symptoms.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Proportion of Participants with Treatment Related Adverse Events as Assessed by CTCAE 5.6 MonthsNational Cancer Institute's Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 5.0
The proportion of patients requiring secondary immune suppression-Infliximab7 Weekspatients randomly assigned to infliximab, secondary immune support will be defined as requiring subsequent treatment with steroids. The proportions of patients in each treatment arm requiring secondary immune suppression will be summarized and presented with 90% exact binomial confidence intervals
The proportion of patients requiring secondary immune suppression-Steroids7 Weekspatients randomly assigned to steroids, secondary immune support will be defined as requiring subsequent treatment with steroids. The proportions of patients in each treatment arm requiring secondary immune suppression will be summarized and presented with 90% exact binomial confidence intervals
Time to steroid-free remissionrandomization to grade-1 or lower symptoms of colitis and less than 7.5 mg a day of prednisone or equivalent or up to 6 monthsThe initial analysis of steroid-free remission will be based on cumulative incidence (1-Kaplan-Meier estimates).
Rate of Symptom Remission at 72 hours72 hoursThe proportion of patients in each treatment arm who have colitis symptom reduction to grade-1 or less within 72 hours of starting randomized treatment will be summarized and presented with 90% exact binomial confidence intervals. The treatment arms will be compared using Fisher's exact tests.
Rate of Symptom Remission at 4 Weeks4 weeksThe proportion of patients in each treatment arm who have colitis symptom reduction to grade-1 or less within 72 hours of starting randomized treatment will be summarized and presented with 90% exact binomial confidence intervals. The treatment arms will be compared using Fisher's exact tests.
Proportion of patients with colectomy or colitis-specific mortality7 weeksThe proportions of patients with colectomy or colitis-specific mortality (investigator assessed) will be presented by treatment arm with 90% exact binomial confidence intervals
Cumulative steroid exposure7 weeksCumulative steroid exposure over time for each patient will be calculated by adding the number of doses multiplied by strength of dose over the total follow-up time. Steroid exposure will be summarized descriptively for each treatment arm, and compared using a Wilcoxon rank-sum test. With 20 patients per treatment arm, a Wilcoxon rank-sum test will have 80% power to detect a 41difference in cumulative steroid exposure that is 0.85 times the common standard deviation, assuming a one-sided, type-I error of 10
Progression Free Survivalduration of time from start of randomization to time of progression or death, whichever occurs first or up to 24 months.summarized using the method of Kaplan-Meier and compared using stratified log-rank tests
Overall Survivalthe duration of time from start of randomization to time of death or up to 24 monthssummarized using the method of Kaplan-Meier and compared using stratified log-rank tests
Overall Response Rateproportion of evaluable patients who achieve either a (complete response) CR or (partial response) PR or up to 24 MonthsResponse rates will be summarized by treatment arm and presented with 90% exact binomial confidence intervals. The comparison of response rates between treatment arms will use Fisher's exact test

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORMichael Dougan, MD, PHD

Massachusetts General Hospital

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jun 17, 2026