Evaluation of Denosumab in Combination With Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Patients With Unresectable or Metastatic Melanoma

Summary

The purpose of this project is to test the addition of a new treatment called denosumab to standard immunotherapies for patients with metastatic melanoma. Denosumab has been used for many years to help treat cancers such as prostate cancer and breast cancer, but it is not currently used in melanoma. We hope the addition of denosumab to current melanoma therapies will make these treatments work better without adding to the side effects.

Who is it for? You may be eligible to join this study if you are aged 18 years or over and have been diagnosed with metastatic melanoma (melanoma that has spread).

Study details: Nivolumab and ipilimumab are approved treatments for advanced melanoma in Australia and overseas. Patients with metastatic melanoma, who are not enrolled in a study, are commonly prescribed nivolumab alone or the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab as standard care. However, there is limited information on the effectiveness and safety of these treatments in combination with denosumab. Recent melanoma research in animal models has shown that denosumab can make immunotherapies such as ipilimumab and nivolumab work better. Because denosumab has been used in patients with breast and prostate cancer for a long time and is safe, we now want to test the benefits and safety of adding denosumab to immunotherapies in this study.

Conditions

• Melanoma Stage Iv
• Melanoma Stage Iii
• Melanoma

Interventions

DRUG

Denosumab

Denosumab is a fully human monoclonal immunoglobulin type 2 (IgG2) antibody that binds with high affinity and specificity to RANK ligand (RANKL) and neutralises the activity of human RANKL, similar to the action of endogenous osteoprotegerin (OPG). Denosumab binding prevents the activation of RANK and inhibits the formation, activation, and survival of osteoclasts. As a consequence, bone resorption and cancer-induced bone destruction are reduced.

DRUG

Nivolumab

Nivolumab is a human monoclonal antibody that targets the programmed death-1 (PD-1) cluster of differentiation 279 (CD279) cell surface membrane receptor. Nivolumab inhibits the interaction of PD-1 with its ligands, PD-L1 and PD-L2, resulting in enhanced T-cell proliferation and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) release in vitro.

DRUG

Ipilimumab

Ipilimumab is a fully human monoclonal immunoglobulin specific for human cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (CTLA-4), which is expressed on a subset of activated T cells. Ipilimumab is a monoclonal antibody(mAb) that binds to CTLA-4 and blocks the interaction of CTLA-4 with its ligands, cluster of differentiation antigen 80 / cluster of differentiation antigen 86 (CD80 / CD86). Blockade of CTLA-4 has been shown to augment T-cell activation and proliferation, including the activation and proliferation of tumor-infiltrating T-effector cells.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Australia

  collaborator OTHER

• Amgen

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• Bristol-Myers Squibb

  collaborator INDUSTRY

• Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials Limited

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• A/Prof Shahneen Sandhu · Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Australia

• Prof. Grant McArthur · Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Australia

Study Design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2017-12-07

Primary Completion

2021-12-31

Completion

2023-12-31

FDA Drug

Yes

Countries

• Australia

Study Locations