Recruiting
Phase 2

Performance Status 2 vs. Performance Status 0-1

Sponsor:

Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Code:

NCT04253964

Conditions

Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer

Performance Status

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Pembrolizumab

Atezolizumab

Cemiplimab-Rwlc

Carboplatin

Paclitaxel

Study Details

Brief summary:

This pilot study is configured as a non-inferiority comparison of Performance Status 2 patients with Performance Status 0-1 patients, with the goal of demonstrating non-inferiority in terms of efficacy (progression-free survival, overall survival) and safety (rates of adverse events, quality of life) when treating Performance Status 2 patients with the same first-line immunotherapy-based regimen as Performance Status 0-1 patients.

Conditions

Nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer

Performance Status

Study ID

NCT04253964

Start date

Jul 1, 2020

Status verified date

Aug, 2026

Completion date

Sep 1, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Sep 1, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients must have a cytological or histological diagnosis of non-small cell lung cancer that is metastatic or unresectable for which standard curative measures do not exist.
  • No prior systemic treatment with either chemotherapy or immunotherapy for non-curative intent. Patients may have previously received cancer treatment with curative intent for prior early-stage disease.
  • At least 18 years old.
  • ECOG performance status of 0-2, as determined by the treating physician in the consult note.
  • Life expectancy of greater than 3 months.
  • Patients must have normal organ and marrow function as defined below:

absolute neutrophil count ≥1,000/mcL

platelets ≥100,000/mcL

  • Chemotherapy agents are known to be teratogenic, therefore women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation. Should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately.
  • Ability to understand and the willingness to sign an IRB-approved informed consent document.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Nonsmall cell lung cancer that is known at registration to be positive for a tumor activating alteration for which first line targeted therapy is indicated; specifically, a targetable mutation in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), gene rearrangement of anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK), gene rearrangement of c-ros oncogene 1 (ROS1), or mutation in B isoform of rapidly accelerated fibrosarcoma (B-Raf). For non-squamous subtypes, molecular testing of tumor and peripheral blood should be attempted for actionable biomarkers, but if there is an insufficient quantity of tumor material for testing and it is not feasible to attempt additional biopsies before starting systemic therapy, then these biomarker results are not necessary for inclusion on the study. For squamous subtype, molecular testing should be considered but is not necessary for inclusion on the study.
  • Known to have an active autoimmune disease that required systemic treatment in the past 2 years (i.e., with use of disease modifying agents, systemic corticosteroids, or immunosuppressive drugs).
  • History of (non-infectious) pneumonitis that required systemic corticosteroids.
  • Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements.
  • Pregnant women are excluded from this study because of the potential for teratogenic or abortifacient effects with chemotherapy. Because there is an unknown but potential risk for adverse events in nursing infants secondary to treatment of the mother with chemotherapy, breastfeeding should be discontinued.

Study Design

Enrollment

105 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Non randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Performance Status 0-1 Participants

Participants with non-squamous and squamous predictive biomarker PD-L1 ≥50%: Participants will receive one of the following if their treating physician has opted for single-agent immunotherapy: pembrolizumab, atezolizumab, or cemiplimab-rwlc.

Participants with non-squamous and squamous subtype, predictive biomarker PD-L1 ≥50%, and the treating clinician has opted for combination chemo/immunotherapy OR participants with non-squamous and squamous subtype, predictive biomarker PD-L1 1-49% or unknown: Participants will receive one of the following--pembrolizumab, atezolizumab, or cemiplimab-rwlc--and ALSO receive:

  • Carboplatin OR
  • Cisplatin

PLUS

  • Pemetrexed (non-squamous subtype only) OR
  • Paclitaxel (squamous subtype only) OR
  • Nab-paclitaxel (squamous subtype only)

experimental: Performance Status 2 Participants

Participants with non-squamous and squamous predictive biomarker PD-L1 ≥50%: Participants will receive one of the following if their treating physician has opted for single-agent immunotherapy: pembrolizumab, atezolizumab, or cemiplimab-rwlc.

Participants with non-squamous and squamous subtype, predictive biomarker PD-L1 ≥50%, and the treating clinician has opted for combination chemo/immunotherapy OR participants with non-squamous and squamous subtype, predictive biomarker PD-L1 1-49% or unknown: Participants will receive one of the following--pembrolizumab, atezolizumab, or cemiplimab-rwlc--and ALSO receive:

  • Carboplatin OR
  • Cisplatin

PLUS

  • Pemetrexed (non-squamous subtype only) OR
  • Paclitaxel (squamous subtype only) OR
  • Nab-paclitaxel (squamous subtype only)

Interventions

Pembrolizumab

ALL PARTICIPANTS: Pembrolizumab 200 mg intravenously (IV) on day 1 of each 3-week cycle for 4 cycles.

Atezolizumab

ALL PARTICIPANTS: 1,200 mg IV on day 1 over 60 minutes of each 3-week cycle for 4 cycles. If the first infusion is tolerated, then all subsequent infusions (cycles 2-4) may be delivered over 30 minutes. The subcutaneous formulation of atezolizumab may be substituted for the intravenous formulation as follows: Atezolizumab hyaluronidase-tqjs 15 mL (1,875 mg atezolizumab and 30,000 units hyaluronidase) subcutaneously into the thigh over 7 minutes on day 1 of each 3-week cycle for 4 cycles.

Cemiplimab-Rwlc

ALL PARTICIPANTS: 350 mg IV over 30 minutes on day 1 of each 3-week cycle for 4 cycles.

Carboplatin

FOR PARTICIPANTS IN EITHER ARM with non-squamous or squamous subtype, predictive biomarker PD-L1 ≥50%, and the treating clinician has opted for combination chemo/immunotherapy OR non-squamous or squamous subtype, predictive biomarker PD-L1 1-49% or unknown: Carboplatin area under the curve (AUC) 5 IV on day 1 of each 3-week cycle for 4 cycles. AUC dosing (5-6) will be selected by the treating provider.

Paclitaxel

FOR PARTICIPANTS IN EITHER ARM with squamous subtype, predictive biomarker PD-L1 ≥50%, and the treating clinician has opted for combination chemo/immunotherapy OR squamous subtype, predictive biomarker PD-L1 1-49% or unknown: Paclitaxel 200 mg/m2 IV on day 1 of each 3-week cycle for 4 cycles.

Nab paclitaxel

FOR PARTICIPANTS IN EITHER ARM with squamous subtype, predictive biomarker PD-L1 ≥50%, and the treating clinician has opted for combination chemo/immunotherapy OR squamous subtype, predictive biomarker PD-L1 1-49% or unknown: Nab-paclitaxel 100 mg/m2 on day 1, 8, 15 of 3-week cycle for 4 cycles.

Pemetrexed

FOR PARTICIPANTS IN EITHER ARM with non-squamous subtype, predictive biomarker PD-L1 ≥50%, and the treating clinician has opted for combination chemo/immunotherapy OR non-squamous subtype, predictive biomarker PD-L1 1-49% or unknown: Pemetrexed 500 mg/m2 IV on day 1 of each 3-week cycle for 4 cycles.

Cisplatin

FOR PARTICIPANTS IN EITHER ARM with non-squamous or squamous subtype, predictive biomarker PD-L1 ≥50%, and the treating clinician has opted for combination chemo/immunotherapy OR non-squamous or squamous subtype, predictive biomarker PD-L1 1-49% or unknown: Cisplatin 75 mg/m2 IV on day 1 of each 3-week cycle for 4 cycles.

Quality of Life Questionnaire, lung cancer-specific (QLQ-LC13)

The QLQ-C30 is composed of both multi-item scales and single-item measures. These include five functional scales, three symptom scales, a global health status / QoL scale, and six single items.

QLQ-C30 Global Health/Quality of Life Questionnaire

30 item questionnaire - Functional scales (physical, role, cognitive, emotional, social), symptom scales (fatigue, pain, and nausea and vomiting), global health status and quality of life scale, also several single-item symptom measures.

COPD Assessment Test and modified Medical Research Council Dyspnea Patient Reported Outcomes

Dyspnea scale scores in patients with respiratory disease (particularly COPD) to establish baseline functional dyspnea burden (taken pre-study at Week 0 and Post Treatment at week 13).

PROMIS and FACT-G Questionnaires

PROMIS 4-item short forms: Fatigue, Sleep Disturbance, Anxiety, and Depression as well as 1 item from the FACT-G which has been established as a valid indicator of treatment side effect bother ("I am bothered by side effects of treatment"); 17 symptom burden questions in total.

Sleep Disorder Assessments (ISI, Berlin Sleep Questionnaire)

7 items on the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and 10 items from the Berlin Sleep Questionnaire, a risk assessment for obstructive sleep apnea.

Primary outcome measure

  • Proportion of Participants with Progression-Free Survival [ Time Frame: From baseline to end of 4th cycle of treatment (12 weeks) ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Project Manager

336-716-5772Melani.Terry@advocatehealth.org

Locations

Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center

Recruiting

Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, 27105

Contacts

Project Manager

336-716-5772Melani.Terry@advocatehealth.org

Principal Investigator:

Thomas Lycan, Jr., DO, MHS

More Information

Sponsor

Wake Forest University Health Sciences

Last update posted

Aug 10, 2026

Last verified

Aug, 2026

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-09. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Wake Forest University Health Sciences on 2026-08-10.