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Study of Pembrolizumab With or Without Defactinib Following Chemotherapy as a Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Treatment for Resectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma

NCT03727880 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: PHASE2 · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 28

Last updated 2026-02-04

Study results available
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Summary

This study will test the effectiveness (anti-tumor activity), safety, and ability to increase the body's immune system to fight pancreatic cancer by combining standard chemotherapy before and after surgery, with study drug PD-1 antibody, pembrolizumab, with and without study drug, focal adhesion kinase inhibitor (FAK), defactinib, in people with "high risk" resectable (surgically removable) pancreatic cancer. The purpose of this study is to evaluate if reprograming the tumor microenvironment by targeting FAK following chemotherapy can potentiate anti-programmed death-1 (PD-1) antibody.

Conditions

Interventions

DRUG

Pembrolizumab

Following standard of care neoadjuvant chemotherapy, subjects will receive two doses of pembrolizumab (200mg) IV 3 weeks apart prior to surgery. After surgery, subjects will receive adjuvant standard of care chemotherapy. Following adjuvant chemotherapy, subjects will receive 8 doses of pembrolizumab (200mg) IV 3 weeks apart.

DRUG

Defactinib

Following 2 cycles of standard of care neoadjuvant chemotherapy, subjects will receive 400 mg defactinib twice a day up until 2 days preceding their surgery (approximately 6 weeks) during the immunotherapy cycles with pembrolizumab. After surgery, subjects will receive adjuvant standard of care chemotherapy. Following adjuvant chemotherapy, subjects will receive 400mg defactinib twice a day for 24 weeks.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Principal Investigators

  • Lei Zheng, MD · The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio

  • Arsen Osipov, MD · Cedar Sinai

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
100 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2019-06-04
Primary Completion
2025-01-15
Completion
2025-01-15
FDA Drug
Yes

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Entities

Drugs
Diseases
Companies

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT03727880 on ClinicalTrials.gov