Overview
This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of adding low-dose radiotherapy to chemoimmunotherapy as a first-line treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with liver metastasis.
Description
Low-dose radiotherapy to the liver metastasis. Chemotherapy: gemcitabine and cisplatin Immunotherapy: penpulimab
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria:
- Age ≥ 18 years and ≤ 70 years, male or non-pregnant female.
- Histologically confirmed with nonkeratinizing carcinoma of the nasopharynx (differentiated or undifferentiated type, WHO II or III)
- Stage IVB (AJCC 8th edition staging)
- De novo nasopharyngeal carcinoma with liver metastasis, or patients who had received curative treatment (radical radiotherapy or radical radiotherapy combined with chemotherapy) and developed liver metastasis more than 6 months after treatment completion.
- ECOG performance status: 0 or 1
- Must have at least one measurable lesion (assessed according to RECIST v1.1)
- Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥ 1.5 × 10^9/L; platelets ≥ 100 × 10^9/L; hemoglobin ≥ 90 g/L.
- International normalized ratio (INR) or prothrombin time (PT) ≤ 1.5 × upper limit of normal (ULN); activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) ≤ 1.5 × ULN
- Serum creatinine ≤ 1.5 × ULN or estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) ≥ 60 mL/min.
- Serum total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 × ULN (patients with Gilbert's syndrome may be included if total bilirubin < 3 × ULN); AST and ALT ≤ 5 × ULN (because of liver metastasis)
Exclusion Criteria:
- Patients with tumor recurrence at the primary site who have previously received radical radiotherapy.
- Tumor invasion involving major blood vessels, with a high risk of significant bleeding as assessed by the investigator.
- Systemic anticancer therapy, including hormone therapy, administered within 28 days prior to the initiation of the study treatment.
- Previous treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (e.g., PD-1/PD-L1, CTLA-4).
- Patients with active autoimmune diseases or a history of autoimmune diseases with a risk of recurrence.
- Known history of other malignancies (except cured basal cell carcinoma or carcinoma in situ of the cervix).
- Conditions requiring systemic corticosteroid therapy (equivalent to >10 mg/day of prednisone or similar medications) or other immunosuppressive therapy within ≤14 days prior to treatment.
- Uncontrolled diabetes or laboratory abnormalities ≥Grade 1 in potassium, sodium, or corrected calcium levels despite standard treatment, or ≥Grade 3 hypoalbuminemia within ≤14 days before treatment.
- History of the following diseases: interstitial lung disease, non-infectious pneumonitis, or uncontrolled diseases, including pulmonary fibrosis or acute lung disease.
- Severe chronic or active infections requiring systemic antibiotics, antifungals, or antivirals within ≤14 days before the first dose of the investigational drug (including tuberculosis infection).
- Known history of HIV infection.
- Untreated chronic hepatitis B patients or hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers with HBV DNA ≥500 IU/mL, or active hepatitis C virus (HCV) carriers.
- Any major surgery requiring general anesthesia within ≤28 days prior to treatment.
- Previous allogeneic stem cell transplantation or organ transplantation.
- Any cardiovascular risk factors, including: cardiac chest pain that restricts daily instrumental activities ≤28 days before treatment. Symptomatic pulmonary embolism within ≤3 months before treatment. Acute myocardial infarction within ≤6 months before treatment. History of heart failure meeting New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III or IV within ≤6 months before treatment. Grade ≥2 ventricular arrhythmias within ≤6 months before treatment. History of cerebrovascular accident within ≤6 months before the first dose of the investigational drug.
- Evident bleeding tendencies or clinically significant bleeding symptoms ≤28 days prior to randomization, including but not limited to gastrointestinal bleeding, nasal bleeding (excluding epistaxis or retrograde blood-stained nasal discharge), and persistent bleeding disorders or coagulopathy.
- Known allergy to any component of the investigational drug or a history of severe hypersensitivity to other monoclonal antibodies.
- Peripheral neuropathy of Grade ≥2 as defined by NCI CTCAE v5.0.
- Administration of live vaccines within ≤4 weeks prior to treatment.
- Underlying medical conditions (including laboratory abnormalities) or alcohol/drug abuse or dependency that could impair drug administration, interpretation of drug toxicity, or adverse events (AEs), or could compromise study compliance or execution.
- Pregnant or breastfeeding women.
- Other factors deemed by the investigator that could lead to the premature termination of the study, such as other severe illnesses, significant laboratory abnormalities, or family/social factors that could affect participant safety or the collection of study data.