Recruiting

Hypoxia in Melanoma

Sponsor:

Yana Najjar

Code:

NCT06831071

Conditions

Melanoma

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Pimonidazole

Study Details

Brief summary:

When controlling for tumor present in the Sentinel lymph node (SLN), intranodal hypoxia, as measured by Carbonic Anhydrase IX (CAIX IHC), is associated with worse PFS. This suggests that melanoma tumors may be utilizing deregulated metabolism as a means of propagating themselves to the next station of metastasis. This study aims to prospectively validate previous findings. Patients who are to undergo WLE and SLNB per standard of care (SOC) will be evaluable. It is hypothesized that SLN(s) with increased hypoxia, as measured by pimonidazole staining, will be associated with worse Progression-free Survival (PFS).

Conditions

Melanoma

Study ID

NCT06831071

Start date

Apr 9, 2025

Status verified date

Jun, 2026

Completion date

Mar 31, 2029

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Mar 31, 2029

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Must be willing and able to provide written informed consent for the study.
2. Must have histologically confirmed melanoma for which a Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy (SLNB) is indicated per the treating physician.
3. Cutaneous or mucosal melanoma is permitted.
4. Female patients of childbearing potential must have a negative urine or serum pregnancy test within 7 days from the time of pimonidazole administration.

1. Female subjects of childbearing potential must not be pregnant or breastfeeding. Female subjects will be considered of non-reproductive potential if they:

1. are postmenopausal (defined as at least 12 months with no menses without an alternative medical cause; in women < 45 years of age a high follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) level in the postmenopausal range may be used to confirm a post-menopausal state in women not using hormonal contraception or hormonal replacement therapy. In the absence of 12 months of amenorrhea, a single FSH measurement is insufficient.
2. have had a hysterectomy and/or bilateral oophorectomy, bilateral salpingectomy or bilateral tubal ligation/occlusion, at least 6 weeks prior to screening.
3. have a congenital or acquired condition that prevents childbearing.
2. Female and male subjects of reproductive potential must agree to avoid becoming pregnant or impregnating a partner, respectively, while receiving study drug and 1 week after the dose of study drug for females and 2 weeks for males by complying with one of the following:

1. practice abstinence from heterosexual activity
2. use (or have their partner use) acceptable contraception during heterosexual activity.
5. Adequate hematologic function: white blood cells (WBC) ≥ 2,500/μL, platelet count ≥ 100,000/μL, hemoglobin ≥ 8.0 g/dL
6. Adequate renal function: serum creatinine ≤ 2.0 mg/dL
7. Adequate hepatic function: serum alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin, and ALT ≤ twice the institutional upper limit of normal

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Subjects with known chronic immunosuppression (such as biologic agents like infliximab, mycophenolate, methotrexate, prednisone > 20 mg daily).
2. Severe septicemia or severe infection in the 4 weeks prior to study entry.
3. History of previous neuropathy from chemotherapy or other causes not related to cancer.
4. Pregnant subjects or breastfeeding subjects. (Note: A pregnancy test will be administered within 7 days prior to the administration of pimonidazole to female subjects of childbearing potential enrolled in the study.)
5. Subjects with (ECOG) Performance scale of 4 - subjects unable to perform self-care.
6. Subjects who have received an investigational new drug 6 half-lives or two weeks prior to enrollment in this study, whichever is shorter.

Study Design

Enrollment

50 participants

Anticipated

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

Pimonidazole

Single dose of 0.5 gm/m\^2 of pimonidazole (approximately 13 mg/kg)

Interventions

Pimonidazole

Drug: Pimonidazole Pimonidazole is not used with therapeutic intent, and has a non-hazardous designation. It has been widely used for in vivo evaluation of intratumor hypoxia, and patients will take PO pimonidazole before the scheduled biopsy. Patients receive an oral dose of pimonidazole, a safe chemical tracer up to 24 hours prior to biopsy. Pimonidazole allows for true hypoxia staining; pimonidazole binds hypoxic proteins covalently, creating an antigen that facilitates the imaging, flow cytometry, and scRNA-seq experiments proposed. Pimonidazole has been previously used in patients and is safe and well tolerated, without anticipated adverse events.

Primary outcome measure

  • Tumor Hypoxia [ Time Frame: Day of surgery ]
  • Progression Free Survival [ Time Frame: Up to 5 years (from date of surgery) ]
  • Sentinel Lymph Node Hypoxia [ Time Frame: Day of surgery ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Danielle L Bednarz, RN, BSN

4126231191bednarzdl@upmc.edu

Locations

UPMC Hillman Cancer Center

Recruiting

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15232

Contacts

Danielle Bednarz, RN, BSN

412-623-1191bednarzdl@upmc.edu

Principal Investigator:

Yana Najjar, MD

More Information

Sponsor

Yana Najjar

Last update posted

Jun 10, 2026

Last verified

Jun, 2026

Keywords

  • Melanoma in-transit metastases (ITMs)
  • intra-nodal hypoxia
  • Tumor cell oxidative metabolism (OCR)

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Yana Najjar on 2026-06-10.