Pembrolizumab, Radiotherapy, and Chemotherapy in Neoadjuvant Treatment of Malignant Esophago-gastric Diseases (PROCEED) (PROCEED)
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ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03064490 |
Recruitment Status :
Active, not recruiting
First Posted : February 27, 2017
Last Update Posted : December 8, 2022
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Condition or disease | Intervention/treatment | Phase |
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Locally Advanced Esophageal and Gastric Cancers (EGC) | Drug: Pembrolizumab | Phase 2 |
Study Type : | Interventional (Clinical Trial) |
Actual Enrollment : | 38 participants |
Allocation: | N/A |
Intervention Model: | Single Group Assignment |
Masking: | None (Open Label) |
Primary Purpose: | Treatment |
Official Title: | Pembrolizumab, Radiotherapy, and Chemotherapy in Neoadjuvant Treatment of Malignant Esophago-gastric Diseases (PROCEED) |
Actual Study Start Date : | October 17, 2017 |
Estimated Primary Completion Date : | April 2023 |
Estimated Study Completion Date : | October 2024 |

Arm | Intervention/treatment |
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Single arm interventional study
Single arm, non randomized, open label study. Subjects will receive three doses of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab (200 mg administered as an intravenous infusion over 30 minutes every 3 weeks). Pembrolizumab will be administered with weekly standard of care Carboplatin/Paclitaxel concurrent chemo-radiation therapy in the neo-adjuvant setting. Postoperatively, three additional cycles of pembrolizumab (200 mg every 3 weeks) will be administered as adjuvant therapy.
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Drug: Pembrolizumab
Neoadjuvant Pembrolizumab ( 3 cycles) administered concurrently with weekly Carboplatin and Paclitaxel and daily radiation therapy; followed by surgical resection and adjuvant Pembrolizumab ( 3 cycles)
Other Name: Keytruda |
- Pathologic complete response [ Time Frame: 2 years ]A two-stage design will be used to test the null hypothesis that the true pCR rate is ≤ 0.30 against the alternative hypothesis that the true pCR rate is ≥ 0.50. This design will allow the trial to stop early to accept the null hypothesis. If there are no more than 4 responders (27%) in the first 15 evaluable patients, the trial will stop to accept the null. Otherwise, an additional 15 evaluable patients will be accrued.
- Safety of the combined drug therapy with radiation therapy. [ Time Frame: 2 years ]Toxicity by type and grade will be tabulated. Toxicity rates of interest will be calculated with their 80% confidence intervals. After the first 5 subjects have been accrued, an analysis will be performed to assess acute treatment-related toxicities. If more than 1, grade 3 or greater toxicities definitely related to concurrent pembrolizumab and radiotherapy are observed, then an additional five patients will be added to this treatment arm.If no issues concerning for safety are observed within 30 days of the last dose of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab (cycle 3) for the fifth patient, then the study will continue to accrue.

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
Ages Eligible for Study: | 18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult) |
Sexes Eligible for Study: | All |
Accepts Healthy Volunteers: | No |
Inclusion Criteria:
- Be willing and able to provide written informed consent for the trial.
- Be 18 years of age or older on day of signing informed consent.
- Has a pathologic diagnosis of invasive esophageal, gastroesophageal or gastric adenocarcinoma.
- Staging CT CAP or PET/CT shows no evidence of metastatic disease.
- Have a performance status of 0-2 on the ECOG Performance Scale.
- Plan for neoadjuvant chemoradiation.
- Demonstrate adequate organ function as defined in the study protocol, all screening labs should be performed within 14 days of treatment initiation.
- Female subject of childbearing potential should have a negative serum pregnancy within 48 hours prior to receiving the first dose of study medication.
- Female and male subjects of childbearing potential must be willing to use an adequate method of contraception as outlined in the Duke Contraception Policy.
Exclusion Criteria:
- 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 or is receiving systemic steroid therapy or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days prior to the first dose of trial 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 for the current diagnosis of EGC.
- 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. (all patients with prior radiotherapy must be reviewed by the PI to determine if patient is eligible).
- Has known metastatic disease. Staging CT C/A/P or PET/CT will be mandatory no more than 45 days prior to enrollment to evaluate for the presence of metastatic disease.
- Has unresectable disease or is medically inoperable.
- Has active autoimmune disease that has required systemic treatment in the past 2 years (i.e. with chronic 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 known, active Hepatitis B (e.g., HBsAg reactive) or Hepatitis C (e.g., HCV RNA [qualitative] is detected).
- 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.
- Has a diagnosis of scleroderma.
- Has a known history of allogenic stem cell transplant
- Has received a solid organ transplant

To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT03064490
United States, North Carolina | |
Duke Cancer Center | |
Durham, North Carolina, United States, 27710 |
Principal Investigator: | Manisha Palta, MD | Duke University |
Responsible Party: | Duke University |
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: | NCT03064490 |
Other Study ID Numbers: |
Pro00081010 |
First Posted: | February 27, 2017 Key Record Dates |
Last Update Posted: | December 8, 2022 |
Last Verified: | December 2022 |
Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement: | |
Plan to Share IPD: | No |
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product: | Yes |
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product: | No |
Product Manufactured in and Exported from the U.S.: | No |
Stomach Diseases Digestive System Diseases Gastrointestinal Diseases |
Pembrolizumab Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological Antineoplastic Agents |