L19IL2, L19TNF, or both for locally advanced basal cell carcinoma
Official title: A Phase 2 Controlled Randomized Study of the Efficacy of L19IL2 or L19TNF or L19IL2/L19TNF Intralesional Injections for the Treatment of Locally Advanced Basal Cell Carcinoma (LaBCC)
Run by Philogen S.p.A. · NCT07227350 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This study tests whether injecting L19IL2, L19TNF, or the combination into skin tumors helps people with locally advanced basal cell carcinoma who can’t have surgery or radiation.
Quick facts
| Phase | Phase 2 |
|---|---|
| Study type | Interventional |
| Ages | 18 Years and up |
| Sex | All |
| Enrollment | 180 (estimated) |
| Sponsor | Philogen S.p.A. Industry-sponsored |
| Drugs / interventions | chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation, prednisone |
| Locations | 18 sites (Tampa, Florida and 17 other locations) |
| Status | Recruiting |
| Started | September 28, 2026 |
| Main results expected | February 2031 |
| Study ends | February 2031 |
| Registry record updated | November 10, 2026 |
| Trial ID | NCT07227350 on ClinicalTrials.gov |
Is this trial a fit for you?
✓Likely a good fit
Ideal candidates are adults with high-risk, locally advanced, non-metastatic BCC meeting intratumoral injection eligibility and not suitable or willing to forego surgery or radiation.
✕Probably not a fit
Patients with non-injectable lesions, metastatic disease, prior HHIs/checkpoint inhibitors, or those not meeting inclusion criteria may not benefit.
A plain-English reading of the study's rules. Only the study team can confirm whether you qualify.
What this trial studies
This open-label, randomized Phase 2 trial assigns 60–180 patients with high-risk, non-metastatic basal cell carcinoma to receive intratumoral injections of L19IL2, L19TNF, or the combination once a week for four weeks. Tumor responses are tracked over up to about three years using a BCC-RECIST-like assessment, with images, ultrasound, and biopsies reviewed by an independent central committee. If a response or stable disease is observed, confirmatory biopsies are performed, and surgery with curative intent may be considered. Primary goals are to test efficacy of the three regimens; secondary goals include safety and pharmacokinetics. Patients will be followed for overall survival after progression or relapse.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the injections could shrink tumors and improve local control, potentially delaying or avoiding more extensive surgery.
How similar studies have gone: Previous similar approaches have shown signal in accessible skin cancers, but this exact intratumoral cytokine approach in LaBCC is still being tested.
Who can join: the full rules
Show full inclusion / exclusion criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients with high risk, locally advanced histologically confirmed (non-metastatic, node negative, single or multifocal), BCC and amenable to intratumoral injection, not eligible or refusing surgery or radiation therapy according to the evaluation of a local interdisciplinary tumor board. * Patients with at least one injectable and measurable cutaneous or subcutaneous lesion. * Patients must not have received prior HHIs and checkpoint inhibitors systemic treatment. * Patients may have received prior surgery and/or radiation therapy. * Radiotherapy must have been previously administered for their locally advanced BCC, unless radiotherapy is contraindicated or inappropriate (e.g., hypersensitivity to radiation due to genetic syndrome such as Gorlin syndrome, limitations because of location of tumor, or cumulative prior radiotherapy dose). For patients whose locally advanced BCC has been irradiated, disease must have progressed after radiation. * Patients must have a histologically confirmed disease that is considered to be inoperable or medical contraindication to surgery or radiotherapy, in the opinion of a Mohs dermatologic surgeon, head and neck surgeon, plastic surgeon or surgical/medical oncologist. Acceptable medical contraindications to surgery include: * BCC that has recurred in the same location after two or more surgical procedures and curative resection is deemed unlikely; * Anticipated substantial morbidity and/or deformity from surgery (e.g., removal of all or part of a facial structure, such as nose, ear, eyelid, eye; or requirement for limb amputation); * Medical conditions predisposing to poor surgical outcome (e.g., diabetes with history of poor wound healing); * Other conditions considered to be medically contraindicating must be discussed with the Medical Monitor before enrolling the patient. * Prior radiotherapy to the target lesions must be completed at least 4 weeks prior to first study drug administration, with all acute RT-related toxicities resolved to ≤ Grade 1. * Male or female patients, who are capable of giving consent, age ≥ 18 years. * ECOG Performance Status/WHO Performance Status ≤ 1. * Hemoglobin \> 10.0 g/dL. * Platelets \> 100 x 109/L. * ALT and AST, GGT and Lipase ≤ 1.5 x the upper limit of normal (ULN). * All acute toxic effects (excluding alopecia) of any prior therapy must have resolved to National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE v. 5.0) Grade ≤ 1 unless otherwise specified. * Women of childbearing potential (WOCBP) must have negative pregnancy test results at screening. WOCBP must be using, from screening to three months following the last study drug administration, highly effective contraception methods, as defined by the "Recommendations for contraception and pregnancy testing in clinical trials" issued by the Head of Medicine Agencies' Clinical Trial Facilitation Group and which include, for instance, progesterone-only or combined (estrogen- and progesterone-containing) hormonal contraception associated with inhibition of ovulation, intrauterine devices, intrauterine hormone-releasing systems, bilateral tubal occlusion, vasectomized partner. * Male patients with WOCBP partners must agree to use simultaneously two acceptable methods of contraception (i.e. spermicidal gel plus condom) from the screening to three months following the last study drug administration. * Willingness and ability to comply with the scheduled visits, treatment plan, laboratory tests and other study procedures. Exclusion Criteria: * Presence of concomitant malignancies, with the exception of any cancer curatively treated more than 3 years prior to study entry and of tumors with a negligible risk for metastasis or death, such as adequately treated squamous-cell carcinoma of the skin (surgically removed 4 weeks prior to study entry), ductal carcinoma in situ of the breast, or carcinoma in situ of the cervix, early-stage asymptomatic CLL and not under active treatment (Rai 0, Binet A) will be eligible for the study. * Current topical or systemic chemotherapy, targeted therapy immunotherapy. * Patients with node positive BCC who are candidates for checkpoint inhibitor therapy. * Chronically impaired renal function as indicated by creatinine clearance \< 60 mL/min/1.73m2 or for patients older than 65 years without albuminuria or proteinuria, creatinine clearance \< 45 mL/min/1.73m2. * Presence of active severe bacterial or viral infections or other severe concurrent disease/infection requiring therapy, including positive tests for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 or HIV-2 serum antibody, hepatitis B virus (HBV), or hepatitis C virus (HCV). For HBV serology, the determination of HBsAg and anti-HBcAg Ab is required. In patients with serology documenting previous exposure to HBV, negative serum HBV-DNA is required. For HCV, HCV-RNA or HCV antibody test is required. Subjects with a positive test for HCV antibody but no detection of HCV-RNA indicating no current infection are eligible. * History within the last year of acute or subacute coronary syndromes including myocardial infarction, unstable or severe stable angina pectoris, inadequately treated cardiac arrhythmias and heart insufficiency (any grade, New York Heart Association (NYHA) criteria). * Any abnormalities observed during baseline ECG investigations that are considered clinically significant by the investigator. * Known arterial aneurysms. * INR \> 3. * Uncontrolled hypertension. * Known uncontrolled coagulopathy or bleeding disorder. * Known hepatic cirrhosis or severe pre-existing hepatic impairment. * Moderate to severe respiratory failure. * Active autoimmune disease that has required systemic treatment in past 2 years. * Patients have a diagnosis of immunodeficiency or are receiving chronic systemic steroid therapy (in dosing exceeding 10 mg daily of prednisone equivalent) or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days prior the first dose of study drug. Limited use of corticosteroids to treat or prevent acute hypersensitivity reactions and asthma/COPD is not considered an exclusion criterion. * Known history of allergy to IL2, TNF, or other human proteins/peptides/antibodies. * Pregnancy or breast-feeding. * Ischemic peripheral vascular disease (Grade IIb-IV). * Severe diabetic retinopathy. * Recovery from major trauma including surgery within 4 weeks prior to enrollment. * Solid organ transplant recipient or patient with iatrogenic or pathologic severe immune suppression. * Patients with a history or current evidence of any condition, therapy, or laboratory abnormality that might confound the results of the study, interfere with the participant's participation for the full duration of the study, or is not in the best interest of the participant to participate, in the opinion of the treating investigator. * Patients who have received a live vaccine within 30 days prior to the first dose of study drug. Examples of live vaccines include, but are not limited to, the following: measles, mumps, rubella, varicella/zoster (chicken pox), yellow fever, rabies, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, and typhoid vaccine. Seasonal influenza vaccines for injection are generally killed virus vaccines and are allowed; however, intranasal influenza vaccines (e.g., FluMist®) are live attenuated vaccines and are not allowed. * Any conditions that in the opinion of the investigator could hamper compliance with the study protocol.
Where it's running
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H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute Hospital, Inc.
Tampa, Florida, United States Recruiting -
Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia, United States Recruiting -
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, North Carolina, United States Recruiting -
The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Houston, Texas, United States Recruiting -
Universitaetsklinikum Augsburg
Augsburg, Germany Recruiting -
Charite Universitaetsmedizin Berlin KöR
Berlin, Germany Recruiting
Show 12 more locations
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Universitaetsklinikum Essen AöR
Essen, Germany Recruiting -
Universitaetsklinikum Halle (Saale) AöR
Halle, Germany Recruiting -
Universitaetsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein AöR
Kiel, Germany Recruiting -
Universitaetsklinikum Tuebingen AöR
Tübingen, Germany Recruiting -
IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori Fondazione Pascale
Naples, Italy Recruiting -
Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS
Roma, Italy Recruiting -
Humanitas Mirasole S.p.A.
Rozzano, Italy Recruiting -
Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Senese
Siena, Italy Recruiting -
Hospital Clinic De Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain Recruiting -
University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center
Cleveland, Ohio, United States Not yet recruiting -
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Clinical Laboratories
Columbus, Ohio, United States Not yet recruiting -
Andreas Syngros Hospital Of Venereal And Dermatological Diseases
Athens, Greece Not yet recruiting
Study contacts
- Study coordinator: Lisa Nadal
- Email: lisa.nadal@philogen.com
- Phone: 05771526723
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L19IL2/L19TNF in Locally Advanced Basal Cell Carcinoma
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How to take part
- Review the eligibility criteria above with your treating physician.
- Check the official listing on ClinicalTrials.gov for the latest contact details and recruitment status.
- Contact the study coordinator or principal investigator to ask for pre-screening. Pre-screening is free and never obligates you to enroll.