BRCA1 Gene MutationPhase 2NCT03428802
Pembrolizumab in Treating Participants With Metastatic, Recurrent or Locally Advanced Cancer and Genomic Instability
A Phase 2 study testing Laboratory Biomarker Analysis and Pembrolizumab in people with BRCA1 Gene Mutation and BRCA2 Gene Mutation, run by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey at 2 sites in United States.
Trial summary
This phase II trial studies how well pembrolizumab works in treating participants with cancer that has spread to other places in the body, has come back or has spread to nearby tissues or lymph nodes. Monoclonal antibodies such as, pembrolizumab, may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- BRCA1 Gene Mutation, BRCA2 Gene Mutation, Locally Advanced Solid Neoplasm
- What is being tested?
- Laboratory Biomarker Analysis and Pembrolizumab
- Type of treatment
- Injection or infusion
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 21 participants
- Where
- 2 sitesUnited States
- Study dates
- 8 Mar 2018to 21 Sep 2027
- Phase
- Phase 2
- Are there results?
- Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Be willing and able to provide written informed consent/assent for the trial
- Have a diagnosis of a tumor with evidence of genomic instability on Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certified genomic testing, inclusive of mutations in POLE, POLD1 for arm 1 and in BRCA1 and BRCA2 for arm 2; in arm 2, enrollment of breast and ovarian histologies will be limited to a total of 10 patients
- Have advanced cancer (metastatic, recurrent or locally advanced) and measurable disease based on Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) 1.1
- Be willing to provide archived tumor tissue; tissue from the most obtained core or excisional biopsy of a tumor lesion is preferred; 20 unstained slides are preferred but a minimum of 15 slides will be acceptable; if adequate tissue is not present the patient may consent to a newly obtained biopsy
- Have a performance status of 0 or 1 on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance scale
- Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) >= 1,500 /mcL, performed within 10 days of treatment
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- Platelets >= 100,000 / mcL, performed within 10 days of treatment
- Hemoglobin >= 9 g/dL or >= 5.6 mmol/L without transfusion or erythropoietin (EPO) dependency (within 7 days of assessment), performed within 10 days of treatment
- Serum creatinine =< 1.5 X upper limit of normal (ULN) OR Measured or calculated creatinine clearance >= 60 mL/min for subject with creatinine levels > 1.5 X institutional ULN (glomerular filtration rate [GFR] can also be used in place of creatinine or creatinine clearance [CrCl]), performed within 10 days of treatment
- Serum total bilirubin =< 1.5 X ULN OR direct bilirubin =< ULN for subjects with total bilirubin levels > 1.5 ULN, performed within 10 days of treatment
- Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase [SGOT]) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase [SGPT]) =< 2.5 X ULN OR =< 5 X ULN for subjects with liver metastases, performed within 10 days of treatment
- Albumin >= 2.5 mg/dL, performed within 10 days of treatment
- International normalized ratio (INR) or prothrombin time (PT) =< 1.5 X ULN unless subject is receiving anticoagulant therapy as long as PT or partial thromboplastin time (PTT) is within therapeutic range of intended use of anticoagulants, performed within 10 days of treatment
- Activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) =< 1.5 X ULN unless subject is receiving anticoagulant therapy as long as PT or PTT is within therapeutic range of intended use of anticoagulants, performed within 10 days of treatment
- Female subject of childbearing potential should have a negative urine or serum pregnancy within 72 hours prior to receiving the first dose of study medication; if the urine test is positive or cannot be confirmed as negative, a serum pregnancy test will be required
- Female subjects of childbearing potential should be willing to use 2 methods of birth control or be surgically sterile, or abstain from heterosexual activity for the course of the study through 120 days after the last dose of study medication; subjects of childbearing potential are those who have not been surgically sterilized or have not been free from menses for > 1 year
- Male subjects should agree to abstinence or use of an adequate method of contraception starting with the first dose of study therapy through 120 days after the last dose of study therapy
Who cannot join
- Is currently participating and receiving study therapy or has participated in a study of an investigational agent and received study therapy or used an investigational device within 4 weeks of the first dose of treatment
- Has a diagnosis of immunodeficiency that requires receiving systemic steroid therapy or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days prior to the first dose of trial treatment or has resulted in life threatening episodes previously regardless of current treatment
- Has a known history of active TB (Bacillus tuberculosis)
- Hypersensitivity to pembrolizumab or any of its excipients
- Has had a prior anti-cancer monoclonal antibody (mAb) within 4 weeks prior to study day 1 or who has not recovered (i.e., =< grade 1 or at baseline) from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier
- Has had prior chemotherapy, targeted small molecule therapy, or radiation therapy within 2 weeks prior to study day 1 or who has not recovered (i.e., =< grade 1 or at baseline) from adverse events due to a previously administered agent
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- Note: Subjects with =< grade 2 neuropathy are an exception to this criterion and may qualify for the study
- Note: If subject received major surgery, they must have recovered adequately from the toxicity and/or complications from the intervention prior to starting therapy
- Has a known additional malignancy that is progressing or requires active treatment; exceptions include basal cell carcinoma of the skin or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin that has undergone potentially curative therapy or in situ cervical cancer, or malignancies that have been inactive for three years or exceptionally indolent; any current diagnosis of second malignancy requires approval from principal investigator and sponsor
- Has known active central nervous system (CNS) metastases and/or carcinomatous meningitis; subjects with previously treated brain metastases may participate provided they are stable (without evidence of progression by imaging for at least four weeks prior to the first dose of trial treatment and any neurologic symptoms have returned to baseline), have no evidence of new or enlarging brain metastases, and are not using steroids for at least 30 days prior to trial treatment; patients who had oligometastatic disease treated with stereotactic radiation or gamma knife therapy may receive treatment 14 days after therapy as long as they are not requiring steroids; this exception does not include carcinomatous meningitis which is excluded regardless of clinical stability
- Has active autoimmune disease that has required systemic treatment in the past 2 years (i.e. with use of disease modifying agents, corticosteroids or immunosuppressive drugs); replacement therapy (e.g., thyroxine, insulin, or physiologic corticosteroid replacement therapy for adrenal or pituitary insufficiency, etc.) is not considered a form of systemic treatment
- Has known history of, or any evidence of active, non-infectious pneumonitis
- Has an active infection requiring systemic therapy
- Has a history or current evidence of any condition, therapy, or laboratory abnormality that might confound the results of the trial, interfere with the subject?s participation for the full duration of the trial, or is not in the best interest of the subject to participate, in the opinion of the treating investigator
- Has known psychiatric or substance abuse disorders that would interfere with cooperation with the requirements of the trial
- Is pregnant or breastfeeding, or expecting to conceive or father children within the projected duration of the trial, starting with the pre-screening or screening visit through 120 days after the last dose of trial treatment
- Has received prior therapy with an anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, or anti-PD-L2 agent
- Has a known history of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (HIV 1/2 antibodies)
- Has received a live vaccine within 30 days of planned start of study therapy
- Note: Seasonal influenza vaccines for injection are generally inactivated flu vaccines and are allowed; however intranasal influenza vaccines (e.g., Flu-Mist) are live attenuated vaccines, and are not allowed
- Tumors harboring non-hotspot POLE or POLD1 mutations that show clear evidence of microsatellite instability (MSI) will be excluded
- Has known active hepatitis B (e.g., hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg] reactive) or hepatitis C (e.g., hepatitis C virus [HCV] ribonucleic acid [RNA] [qualitative] is detected)
Trial locations and contacts
2 sites in 1 country.
United States2 sites
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08903
Laura & Isaac Perlmutter Cancer Center at NYU Langone Health
New York, New York, 10016
About this study
Official title: A Basket Trial of Pembrolizumab in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors and Genomic Instability
This phase II trial studies how well pembrolizumab works in treating participants with cancer that has spread to other places in the body, has come back or has spread to nearby tissues or lymph nodes. Monoclonal antibodies such as, pembrolizumab, may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread.
Read the detailed description
PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:
- To evaluate the response rate of pembrolizumab in participants with evidence of genomic instability who have solid tumors with POLE and POLD1 mutations.
II. To evaluate the response rate of pembrolizumab in participants with evidence of genomic instability who have solid tumors with BRCA1/2 mutations.
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:
- To compare the complete and partial response rate, and response durability (immune related progression free survival), to historical cohort information of unselected patients treated with pembrolizumab.
TERTIARY OBJECTIVES:
- To evaluate the CD4+ and CD8+ T cell response in the tumor microenvironment and peripheral blood of patients treated on this study as well as the frequencies, activation/differentiation, functionality, and co-inhibitory molecule expression of immune cell populations in peripheral blood and tumor, before and after treatment with systemic pembrolizumab.
II. To measure PD-L1 expression in pretreatment tumor biopsies and in post treatment tumor tissue, as well as on biopsies taken at progression, to capture data on the relationship between PD-L1 expression and patient outcome.
III. To perform deep sequencing for detection of PD-1 and PD-L1 polymorphisms that may correlate with clinical outcomes as well as identification of mutations in immunoregulatory genes that are potential predictors of response to these therapies.
IV. To perform exome sequencing of pre-treatment tumor specimens to determine if the presence of immunogenic neoantigens is associated with response.
- To perform ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequencing to determine if expression of checkpoint genes, immune-regulatory modules, or non-coding RNAs including repetitive RNAs and retroelements are associated with response.
OUTLINE:
Participants receive pembrolizumab intravenously (IV) over 30 minutes on day 1. Courses repeat every 21 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Participants with disease progression may continue pembrolizumab for up to 1 year.
After completion of study treatment, participants are followed up at 30 days then every 12 weeks.
- Conditions
- BRCA1 Gene Mutation, BRCA2 Gene Mutation, Locally Advanced Solid Neoplasm, Metastatic Malignant Solid Neoplasm, POLD1 Gene Mutation, POLE Gene Mutation
- Being tested
- Laboratory Biomarker Analysis, Pembrolizumab
- Medical subject headings
- Neoplasm Metastasis, Ovarian Neoplasms, Breast Neoplasms
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Laboratory Biomarker AnalysisOther
Correlative studies
PembrolizumabBiological
Also called Keytruda, Lambrolizumab, MK-3475, SCH 900475
Given IV
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Treatment (pembrolizumab) | Experimental | Participants receive pembrolizumab IV over 30 minutes on day 1. Courses repeat every 21 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Participants with disease progression may continue pembrolizumab for up to 1 year. Receives: Other: Laboratory Biomarker Analysis; Biological: Pembrolizumab |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Overall Response Rate (ORR) Per RECIST v1.1
Overall Response Rate (ORR) defined as the proportion of participants with Complete Response (CR) or Partial Response (PR) as their best overall response. Tumor response was assessed per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) version 1.1 using CT or MRI imaging.
Complete Response (CR): Disappearance of all target lesions.
Partial Response (PR): At least a 30% decrease in the sum of diameters of target lesions.
ORR = (CR + PR) / number of participants analyzed.
Measured: Up to 2.5 years
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted12 Feb 2018
- Study start8 Mar 2018
- Primary completion24 Nov 2024
- Study completion21 Sep 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, outcome measures and adverse events reported by the sponsor.
- Other trials for BRCA1 Gene MutationStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase 2
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 21 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Cancer Institute (NCI)
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Eugenia Girda, MD, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
- Investigators
- Eugenia Girda, MD, Principal investigator, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03428802
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- Pro20170001392
- Other IDs
- NCI-2018-00115, Pro20170001392, 051709, P30CA072720
- Status last verified
- Mar 2026
- First submitted
- 5 Feb 2018
- Last updated
- 3 Apr 2026
- Results posted
- Yes, on ClinicalTrials.gov
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- Yes
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 3 Apr 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- A Basket Trial of Pembrolizumab in Patients With Advanced Solid Tumors and Genomic Instability
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03428802
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- Pro20170001392
- Conditions
- BRCA1 Gene Mutation, BRCA2 Gene Mutation, Locally Advanced Solid Neoplasm, Metastatic Malignant Solid Neoplasm, POLD1 Gene Mutation, POLE Gene Mutation
- Phase
- Phase 2
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Active, not recruiting
- Enrolment
- 21 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Rutgers, The State University of New JerseyUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- National Cancer Institute (NCI)
- Study start
- 8 Mar 2018 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 24 Nov 2024 (actual)
- Study completion
- 21 Sep 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 12 Feb 2018 (actual)
- Results
- Posted 3 Apr 2026
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
This phase II trial studies how well pembrolizumab works in treating participants with cancer that has spread to other places in the body, has come back or has spread to nearby tissues or lymph nodes. Monoclonal antibodies such as, pembrolizumab, may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread.
Detailed description
PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:
- To evaluate the response rate of pembrolizumab in participants with evidence of genomic instability who have solid tumors with POLE and POLD1 mutations.
II. To evaluate the response rate of pembrolizumab in participants with evidence of genomic instability who have solid tumors with BRCA1/2 mutations.
SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:
- To compare the complete and partial response rate, and response durability (immune related progression free survival), to historical cohort information of unselected patients treated with pembrolizumab.
TERTIARY OBJECTIVES:
- To evaluate the CD4+ and CD8+ T cell response in the tumor microenvironment and peripheral blood of patients treated on this study as well as the frequencies, activation/differentiation, functionality, and co-inhibitory molecule expression of immune cell populations in peripheral blood and tumor, before and after treatment with systemic pembrolizumab.
II. To measure PD-L1 expression in pretreatment tumor biopsies and in post treatment tumor tissue, as well as on biopsies taken at progression, to capture data on the relationship between PD-L1 expression and patient outcome.
III. To perform deep sequencing for detection of PD-1 and PD-L1 polymorphisms that may correlate with clinical outcomes as well as identification of mutations in immunoregulatory genes that are potential predictors of response to these therapies.
IV. To perform exome sequencing of pre-treatment tumor specimens to determine if the presence of immunogenic neoantigens is associated with response.
- To perform ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequencing to determine if expression of checkpoint genes, immune-regulatory modules, or non-coding RNAs including repetitive RNAs and retroelements are associated with response.
OUTLINE:
Participants receive pembrolizumab intravenously (IV) over 30 minutes on day 1. Courses repeat every 21 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Participants with disease progression may continue pembrolizumab for up to 1 year.
After completion of study treatment, participants are followed up at 30 days then every 12 weeks.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 1
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Treatment (pembrolizumab) | Experimental | Other: Laboratory Biomarker Analysis, Biological: PembrolizumabParticipants receive pembrolizumab IV over 30 minutes on day 1. Courses repeat every 21 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Participants with disease progression may continue pembrolizumab for up to 1 year. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (17 listed)
- Be willing and able to provide written informed consent/assent for the trial
- Have a diagnosis of a tumor with evidence of genomic instability on Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certified genomic testing, inclusive of mutations in POLE, POLD1 for arm 1 and in BRCA1 and BRCA2 for arm 2; in arm 2, enrollment of breast and ovarian histologies will be limited to a total of 10 patients
- Have advanced cancer (metastatic, recurrent or locally advanced) and measurable disease based on Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) 1.1
- Be willing to provide archived tumor tissue; tissue from the most obtained core or excisional biopsy of a tumor lesion is preferred; 20 unstained slides are preferred but a minimum of 15 slides will be acceptable; if adequate tissue is not present the patient may consent to a newly obtained biopsy
- Have a performance status of 0 or 1 on the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance scale
Key exclusion criteria (22 listed)
- Is currently participating and receiving study therapy or has participated in a study of an investigational agent and received study therapy or used an investigational device within 4 weeks of the first dose of treatment
- Has a diagnosis of immunodeficiency that requires receiving systemic steroid therapy or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days prior to the first dose of trial treatment or has resulted in life threatening episodes previously regardless of current treatment
- Has a known history of active TB (Bacillus tuberculosis)
- Hypersensitivity to pembrolizumab or any of its excipients
- Has had a prior anti-cancer monoclonal antibody (mAb) within 4 weeks prior to study day 1 or who has not recovered (i.e., =< grade 1 or at baseline) from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Laboratory Biomarker AnalysisCorrelative studies | Other | Treatment (pembrolizumab) |
| PembrolizumabAlso: Keytruda, Lambrolizumab, MK-3475, SCH 900475Given IV | Biological | Treatment (pembrolizumab) |
Primary outcome
Overall Response Rate (ORR) Per RECIST v1.1
Time frame: Up to 2.5 years
Overall Response Rate (ORR) defined as the proportion of participants with Complete Response (CR) or Partial Response (PR) as their best overall response. Tumor response was assessed per Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (RECIST) version 1.1 using CT or MRI imaging. Complete Response (CR): Disappearance of all target lesions. Partial Response (PR): At least a 30% decrease in the sum of diameters of target lesions. ORR = (CR + PR) / number of participants analyzed.
Results and safety
Loading the posted results from ClinicalTrials.gov…
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 3 Apr 2026.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, baseline, all outcome measures and adverse events.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Eugenia Girda, MD principal investigator
Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
2 sites in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A Phase 2 study testing Laboratory Biomarker Analysis and Pembrolizumab in people with BRCA1 Gene Mutation and BRCA2 Gene Mutation, run by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey at 2 sites in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 17 inclusion and 22 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 3 Apr 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 2 sites in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
What does this phase mean?
Phase 2 studies give the treatment to a larger group to see whether it has the intended effect and to keep checking safety.
Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.
Are results available for this study?
Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 3 Apr 2026). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Overall Response Rate (ORR) Per RECIST v1.1 (time frame: Up to 2.5 years). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 3 Apr 2026.