Anti-PD-1 and mDCF Followed by Chemoradiotherapy in Patients With Stage III Squamous Cell Anal Carcinoma.

Summary

Squamous cell carcinoma of the anus (SCCA) is a rare cancer, however its incidence is increasing worldwide. SCCA is mostly induced by human papillomavirus (HPV) infections (high-risk types such as HPV-16 and -18) and HPV-related oncoproteins (E6 and E7) are expressed in more than 90% of cases. T stage and N stage are recognized prognostic factors for local and/or distant recurrence in SCCA patients treated by CRT. In fact, ≥T3 or ≥N1 anal cancers are associated with as high as 50% disease recurrence rate at 2 years. Since 1996 when concomitant radiotherapy and MMC (mytomicin C) and 5-FU-based chemotherapy demonstrated superiority to radiotherapy alone, no significant progress has been achieved in patients with locally advanced SCCA. Still, phase III study by James et al. reported in 2013 showed that prognosis of SCCA patients treated with this regimen can be improved probably due to a better tumor classification, more precise radiological methods, known as "Will Rogers phenomenon". Based on the above, investigators have designed this phase II trial assessing the feasibility and efficacy of Ezabenlimab (BI 754091) and mDCF chemotherapy combination followed by: * standard chemoradiotherapy in case of low response to induction treatment (\<30% by RECIST criteria) or * additional 2 cycles of mDCF and 1 cycle of Ezabenlimab (BI 754091) followed by hypofractionated radiotherapy in case of high response (≥ 30% by RECIST criteria) in SCCA patients with high-risk locally advanced (stage III) disease. In summary, the first innovative aspect of this research program is to provide a valuable proof of concept study evaluating the feasibility to combine radiotherapy, chemotherapies (docetaxel, cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil) and Ezabenlimab (BI 754091) in patients with stage III squamous cell anal carcinoma. INTERACT-ION study will provide evidence that Ezabenlimab (BI 754091) acts in synergy with mDCF to improve complete response rate, and both with hypofractionated radiotherapy to improve the disease-free survival enhancing TH1 and CD8 T cell immunity.

Timeline

Start

2022-01-04

Primary completion

2024-11-21

Completion

2026-07-05

Publications

• Background Kim S, Francois E, Andre T, Samalin E, Jary M, El Hajbi F, Baba-Hamed N, Pernot S, Kaminsky MC, Bouche O, Desrame J, Zoubir M, Ghiringhelli F, Parzy A, De La Fouchardiere C, Smith D, Deberne M, Spehner L, Badet N, Adotevi O, Anota A, Meurisse A, Vernerey D, Taieb J, Vendrely V, Buecher B, Borg C. Docetaxel, cisplatin, and fluorouracil chemotherapy for metastatic or unresectable locally recurrent anal squamous cell carcinoma (Epitopes-HPV02): a multicentre, single-arm, phase 2 study. Lancet Oncol. 2018 Aug;19(8):1094-1106. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30321-8. Epub 2018 Jul 2.
• Background Kim S, Meurisse A, Spehner L, Stouvenot M, Francois E, Buecher B, Andre T, Samalin E, Jary M, Nguyen T, El Hajbi F, Baba-Hamed N, Pernot S, Kaminsky MC, Bouche O, Desrame J, Zoubir M, Ghiringhelli F, Parzy A, de la Fouchardiere C, Boulbair F, Lakkis Z, Klajer E, Jacquin M, Taieb J, Vendrely V, Vernerey D, Borg C. Pooled analysis of 115 patients from updated data of Epitopes-HPV01 and Epitopes-HPV02 studies in first-line advanced anal squamous cell carcinoma. Ther Adv Med Oncol. 2020 Dec 4;12:1758835920975356. doi: 10.1177/1758835920975356. eCollection 2020.
• Kim S, Boustani J, Iseas S, Vernerey D, Evesque L, Quero L, Ghiringhelli F, Coutzac C, Bouche O, Chibaudel B, Vernet C, Vienot A, Tougeron D, Nguyen T, Rebucci-Peixoto M, Meurisse A, Chennoufi S, Maritaz C, Borg C; INTERACT-ION Study Team. Ezabenlimab and induction chemotherapy followed by adaptive chemoradiotherapy in patients with stage 3 squamous cell anal carcinoma (INTERACT-ION): an open-label, single-arm, phase 2 trial. Lancet Oncol. 2025 Dec;26(12):1626-1637. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(25)00605-9. Epub 2025 Nov 4.
• Kim S, Boustani J, Vernerey D, Vendrely V, Evesque L, Francois E, Quero L, Ghiringhelli F, de la Fouchardiere C, Dahan L, Bouche O, Chibaudel B, Hajbi FE, Vernet C, Rebucci-Peixoto M, Feuersinger A, Maritaz C, Borg C. Phase II INTERACT-ION study: ezabenlimab (BI 754091) and mDCF (docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-fluorouracil) followed by chemoradiotherapy in patients with Stage III squamous cell anal carcinoma. Front Oncol. 2022 Aug 24;12:918499. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2022.918499. eCollection 2022.

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