Using tebentafusp before surgery to shrink large, unresectable uveal melanoma

Neoadjuvant Tebentafusp in Patients With Locally Advanced, Unresectable Primary Uveal Melanoma

This trial will try giving tebentafusp before surgery to see if it can shrink large, unresectable primary uveal melanoma in patients who are HLA-A*02:01 positive.

Quick facts

• Phase: Phase 2
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 19 (estimated)
• Ages: 18 Years and up
• Sex: All
• Sponsor: Thomas Jefferson University (Academic / other)
• Drugs / interventions: radiation
• Locations: 2 sites (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and 1 other locations)
• Trial ID: NCT06414590 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

This is a single-arm, phase II neoadjuvant trial testing tebentafusp (KIMMTRAK®) in adults with large, treatment‑naïve primary uveal melanoma that cannot be removed surgically except by enucleation. Eligible participants must be HLA‑A*02:01 positive and will receive tebentafusp before any planned definitive local therapy. Tumor response is defined as a 20% reduction in tumor volume and will be monitored by ophthalmologic ultrasound, OCT, clinical exam, and pre- and post-treatment fine-needle aspiration biopsies, with blood and aqueous humor ctDNA measured as exploratory biomarkers. The study uses a Simon two-stage design to allow early stopping if the true regression rate is very low and to estimate whether neoadjuvant tebentafusp can convert some patients from planned enucleation to eye‑sparing plaque brachytherapy.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Adults (≥18) with treatment‑naïve, large T3 or T4 primary uveal melanoma that is surgically unresectable except by enucleation, who are HLA‑A*02:01 positive and have ECOG 0–1, are the intended candidates.

Not a fit: Patients who are not HLA‑A*02:01 positive, have small or already resectable tumors, widespread metastatic disease, or poor performance status are unlikely to benefit from this neoadjuvant approach.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, tebentafusp given before surgery could shrink tumors enough to allow eye‑sparing treatment instead of complete enucleation for some patients.

How similar studies have performed: Tebentafusp has demonstrated survival benefit in metastatic uveal melanoma, but its use before surgery in primary uveal melanoma is novel and supported only by limited preclinical and early clinical data.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

Individuals must meet all of the following inclusion criteria in order to be eligible to participate in the study:

1. Male or female patient age ≥ 18 years of age at the time of informed consent.
2. Ability to provide and understand written informed consent prior to any study procedures.
3. Willingness to undergo tumor biopsies at baseline and post-Tebentafusp treatment.
4. Treatment naïve primary uveal melanoma with T3 or T4 category tumor size that are surgically unresectable (other than complete enucleation of eye).
5. No surgical indication to completely remove the tumor without enucleation.
6. Clinically or cytologically confirmed primary uveal melanoma.
7. Participants must be HLA-A\*02:01 positive.
8. Predicted life expectancy of at least 12 weeks as estimated by investigator
9. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1 at screening.
10. All other relevant medical conditions must be well-managed and stable, in the opinion of the investigator, for at least 28 days prior to first administration of study drug.
11. Absence of any psychological, familial, sociological or geographical condition potentially hampering compliance with the study protocol and follow-up schedule.

Exclusion Criteria:

An individual who meets any of the following criteria will be excluded from participation in this study:

1. Symptomatic uveal melanoma that requires immediate ophthalmological intervention such as enucleation.
2. Evidence of metastatic disease.
3. Previous treatment with Tebentafusp.
4. Patients with any out-of-range laboratory values defined as:

   * Serum creatinine \> 1.5 x upper limit of normal (ULN) and/or creatinine clearance (calculated using Cockcroft-Gault Formula, or measured) \< 50 mL/minute
   * Albumin \< 3.0 g/dl
   * Total bilirubin \>1.5 mg/dL (or 1.3 x ULN). Patients with hyperbilirubinemia clinically consistent with an inherited disorder of bilirubin metabolism (e.g., Gilbert syndrome) will be eligible at the discretion of the treating physician and/or the principal investigator.
   * Alanine aminotransferase \> 1.5 x ULN
   * Aspartate aminotransferase \> 1.5 x ULN
   * Absolute neutrophil count \< 1.0 x 109 /L
   * Absolute lymphocyte count \< 0.5 x 109 /L
   * Platelet count \< 100 x 109 /L
   * Hemoglobin \< 9.0 g/dL
   * Uncorrectable abnormal potassium, magnesium, corrected calcium or phosphate abnormality of National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (NCI CTCAE v5.0) \> grade 1
   * Morning cortisol \< lower limit of normal (unless the patient has asymptomatic adrenal insufficiency and is receiving stable replacement doses)
5. History of severe hypersensitivity reactions (e.g., anaphylaxis) to other biologic drugs or monoclonal antibodies.
6. Clinically significant cardiac disease or impaired cardiac function, including any of the following:

   * Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction \<50%
   * Clinically significant and/or uncontrolled heart disease such as congestive heart failure (New York Heart Association grade ≥ 2), uncontrolled hypertension, or clinically significant arrhythmia uncontrolled with medical treatment
   * QTcF \> 470 msec on screening electrocardiogram (ECG) or congenital long QT syndrome
   * Acute myocardial infarction or unstable angina pectoris \< 6 months to Screening
7. Active infection requiring systemic antibiotic therapy. Patients requiring systemic antibiotics for infection must have completed therapy at least 1 week prior to the first dose of study drug.
8. Participants with a history of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. NOTE: Testing is not required unless mandated by the local health authority. Participants with HIV infection may be eligible if ALL of the following are applicable:

   1. Receiving an approved, stable, effective combination antiretroviral therapy regimen for \> 3 months prior to the planned first study intervention. NOTE: please review Section 5.7 and consider whether any actions should be taken to minimize potential drug-drug interactions,
   2. CD4 T cell count \> 350 cells/µl,
   3. CD4 T cell nadir (lowest historical count) \> 200 cells/µl, and
   4. Viral load confirmed as \< 50 copies/mL during Screening.
9. Participants with a known history of chronic viral infections as indicated below.

   NOTE: Testing for hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) is not required unless mandated by the local health authority.
   1. Known HBV infection defined as hepatitis B surface antigen reactive. NOTE: Participants with HBV infection on stable anti-viral therapy for \> 4 weeks prior to the planned first study intervention and viral load confirmed as undetectable during Screening may be eligible.
   2. Known active HCV infection defined as detectable HCV RNA (qualitative) infection. NOTE: History of HCV is not exclusionary if participants have received curative treatment and viral load is confirmed as undetectable during screening.
10. Malignant disease, other than that being treated in this study. Exceptions to this exclusion include the following: malignancies that were treated curatively and have not recurred within 2 years prior to study treatment; completely resected basal cell and squamous cell skin cancers; any malignancy considered to be indolent and that has never required therapy; and completely resected carcinoma in situ of any type.
11. Any medical condition that would, in the investigator's or Sponsor's judgement, prevent the patient's participation in the clinical study due to safety concerns, compliance with clinical study procedures or interpretation of study results.
12. Patients receiving systemic steroid therapy or any other immunosuppressive medication at any dose level. Local steroid therapies (e.g., otic, ophthalmic, intra-articular or inhaled medications) are acceptable.
13. Major surgery within 2 weeks of the first dose of study drug (minimally invasive procedures such as bronchoscopy, tumor biopsy, insertion of a central venous access device, and insertion of a feeding tube are not considered major surgery and are not exclusionary).
14. Radiotherapy within 2 weeks of the first dose of study drug.
15. Use of hematopoietic colony-stimulating growth factors (e.g., G-CSF, GMCSF, M-CSF) ≤ 2 weeks prior to start of study drug. An erythroid-stimulating agent is allowed as long as it was initiated at least 2 weeks prior to the first dose of study treatment and the patient is not red blood cell transfusion dependent.
16. Pregnant, likely to become pregnant, or lactating women (where pregnancy is defined as the state of a female after conception and until the termination of gestation).
17. Women of child-bearing potential who are sexually active with a non-sterilized male partner, defined as all women physiologically capable of becoming pregnant, unless they are using highly effective contraception during study treatment (defined in Section 8.4.7), and must agree to continue using such precautions for 6 months after the final dose of study drug; cessation of birth control after this point should be discussed with a responsible physician.
18. Male patients must be surgically sterile or use double barrier contraception methods from enrolment through treatment and for 6 months following administration of the last dose of study drug.
19. Failure to obtain insurance approval for Tebentafusp treatment.

Where this trial is running

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and 1 other locations

• Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (Recruiting)
• Wills Eye Hospital — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States (Active_not_recruiting)

Study contacts

• Principal investigator: Rino Seedor, MD — Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University
• Study coordinator: Rino Seedor, MD

Conditions Locally Advanced Unresectable Uveal Melanoma; Neoadjuvant Tebentafusp; Uveal Melanoma; Primary Uveal Melanoma; Neoadjuvant IMCgp100; gp100 peptide-HLA-directed CD3 T cell engager; HLA-A*02:01; KIMMTRAK®