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NCT Number: NCT04107311

Prospective Analysis of Intestinal Microbiome and Autoimmune Panels as Predictors of Toxicity in ImmunOncology Patients

This is a single-center, investigator-initiated, non-interventional study evaluating the role of the intestinal microbiome and autoimmune panels as a predictor for developing ≥ Grade 2 CTCAE v5.0 immune-related adverse event (irAE) and/or requiring systemic immunosuppression for irAEs in advanced solid tumor patients receiving immunooncology (IO) combinations at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. This is a minimal risk study involving the analysis of patient samples and does not involve therapeutic intervention.

The study will involve a prospective cohort of up to 120 patients and it is anticipated that patient accrual will be completed within 18 months.

Patients will receive IO combination as per their specific protocols from their other clinical trial or per their standard of care and samples will be collected at multiple time-points. No additional visits to the hospital will be needed for this study as safety assessments are already captured for all patients based on their participation in a clinical trial or per their standard of care.

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Key information

Conditions

Solid Tumor

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

About this study

Accumulating evidence supports that differential composition of fecal microbiome influences response to immunotherapy and development of colitis. Microbiome with different profiles are also associated with multiple diseases, including gastrointestinal (GI) or non-GI auto-immune pathologies. Little is known about the relationship between the microbiome composition or fecal calprotectin (fCal) and the development of non-colitis immune-related adverse events (irAEs) during treatment with IO combinations.

Autoimmune conditions and irAEs from immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) drugs both involve loss of tolerance to endogenous antigens and produce similar clinical presentations. ICI can increase humoral response. However, to date there is no evidence that autoimmune panels are correlated with the development of irAEs during IO combination therapy.

These findings suggest that analyzing the microbiome and autoimmune panels of patients treated with IO combinations at multiple time-points may be feasible. In addition, baseline, early shift and changes in microbiome and autoimmune panels at time of a serious irAE may be correlated with the development of serious irAEs and may change with appropriate immunosuppressive regimens.

We hypothesize that analysing the microbiome and autoimmune panels of patients treated with immunooncology (IO) combinations at multiple time-points is feasible. Additionally, we hypothesize that baseline, early shift and changes in microbiome and autoimmune panels at time of a serious immune-related adverse event (irAE) is correlated with the development of serious irAEs and will change with appropriate immunosuppressive regimens.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Signed written and voluntary informed consent.
  • Patient must be willing and able to provide collection for blood and stool specimen analysis at the pre-specified time-points.
  • Age > 18 years, male or female.
  • Patient must be diagnosed with any advanced solid tumor deemed incurable and to be treated at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
  • Patients must be eligible to treatment with an IO combination.

Exclusion criteria

  • Any conditions that in the opinion of the Investigator would interfere with patient safety, or evaluation of the collected specimen and interpretation of study result.
  • History of autoimmune disease with a flare episode within one year before study screening.

Treatment and study plan

Primary outcomes

  1. Feasibility of evaluating intestinal microbiome composition and autoimmune panels in patients treated with immunooncology combinations through the analysis of stool and blood samples at multiple time-points.

    Time frame: 18 months

    To assess the feasibility, the endpoint will be deemed feasible if >50% of patients have biospecimens collected in at least 2 time-points.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Correlation between baseline intestinal microbiome composition to the development of ≥ Grade 2 CTCAE v5.0 irAEs and/or requiring systemic immunosuppression for irAEs.

    Time frame: 18 months

    Correlation between bacteria taxa obtained through 16S rRNA sequencing and irAEs.

  2. Correlation between baseline autoimmune panels to the development of ≥ Grade 2 CTCAE v5.0 irAEs and/or requiring systemic immunosuppression for irAEs.

    Time frame: 18 month

    Correlation between auto-antibodies detected through the 162 IgM and IgG antigen microarray with the development of ≥ Grade 2 CTCAE v5.0 irAEs and/or requiring systemic immunosuppression for irAEs.

  3. Correlation between baseline fecal calprotectin levels to the development of ≥ Grade 2 CTCAE v5.0 colitis and/or requiring systemic immunosuppression for colitis.

    Time frame: 18 months

    Correlation between fCal detection at baseline to development of ≥ Grade 2 CTCAE v5.0 irAEs and/or requiring systemic immunosuppression for irAEs.

  4. Correlation between the early changes in composition of intestinal microbiome and the development of ≥ Grade 2 CTCAE v5.0 irAEs and/or requiring systemic immunosuppression for irAEs.

    Time frame: 18 months

    Correlate changes in bacteria taxa composition through 16S rRNA sequencing from baseline samples to early time-point, with the development of ≥ Grade 2 CTCAE v5.0 irAEs and/or requiring systemic immunosuppression for irAEs

  5. Correlation between the early changes in composition of autoimmune panels and the development of ≥ Grade 2 CTCAE v5.0 irAEs and/or requiring systemic immunosuppression for irAEs.

    Time frame: 18 months

    Correlate the changes of auto-immune antibodies reactivity obtained through the 162 IgM and IgG antigen microarray from baseline to early time-point with the development of ≥ Grade 2 CTCAE v5.0 irAEs and/or requiring systemic immunosuppression for irAEs.

  6. Correlation between the early changes in fecal calprotectin levels to the development of ≥ Grade 2 CTCAE v5.0 colitis and/or requiring systemic immunosuppression for colitis.

    Time frame: 18 months

    Correlate the changes in fCal positivity from baseline to early time-point with the development of ≥ Grade 2 CTCAE v5.0 colitis and/or requiring systemic immunosuppression for colitis.

  7. Evaluate intestinal microbiome, autoimmune panel reactivity & fCal changes from baseline to development of ≥ Gr2 CTCAE v5.0 irAEs and/or requiring systemic immunosuppression for irAEs, & from event diagnosis to resolution to ≤ Gr1 CTCAE v5.0 irAEs

    Time frame: 18 months

    Monitor changes in bacteria taxa through 16S rRNA sequencing; reactivity of autoimmune antibodies through 162 IgM and IgG antigen microarray; and positivity of fCal at baseline, early time-point, at the time of event diagnosis, and at the time of event resolution

Other outcomes

  1. Evaluate the overall response rate (ORR) of the enrolled cohort measured by RECIST v1.1 and iRECIST.

    Time frame: 18 months

    ORR by RECIST v1.1 and iRECIST.

  2. Evaluate the median progression-free survival (PFS) of the enrolled cohort measured by RECIST v1.1 and iRECIST.

    Time frame: 18 months

    PFS by RECIST v1.1 and iRECIST.

  3. Correlation between the baseline composition of the intestinal microbiome with PFS.

    Time frame: 18 months

    Microbiome composition through 16S rRNA sequencing with PFS by RECIST v1.1 and iRECIST.

  4. Correlation between the baseline composition of the intestinal microbiome with ORR.

    Time frame: 18 months

    Microbiome composition through 16S rRNA sequencing with ORR by RECIST v1.1 and iRECIST.

  5. Correlation between the baseline autoimmune panels with ORR.

    Time frame: 18 months

    Correlate the reactivity of baseline auto-antibodies detected through the 162 IgM and IgG antigen microarray with ORR per RECIST v1.1 and iRECIST.

  6. Correlation between the baseline autoimmune panels with PFS.

    Time frame: 18 months

    Correlate the reactivity of baseline auto-antibodies detected through the 162 IgM and IgG antigen microarray with PFS per RECIST v1.1 and iRECIST.

  7. Correlation between the change in composition of the intestinal microbiome at multiple time-points with ORR.

    Time frame: 18 months

    Change in microbiome composition as outlined above with ORR per RECIST v1.1 and iRECIST.

  8. Correlation between the change in composition of the intestinal microbiome at multiple time-points with PFS.

    Time frame: 18 months

    Change in microbiome composition as outlined above with PFS per RECIST v1.1 and iRECIST.

  9. Correlation between the change in autoimmune panels at multiple time-points with ORR.

    Time frame: 18 months

    Change in reactivity of auto-immune antibodies as outlined above with ORR per RECIST v1.1 and iRECIST.

  10. Correlation between the change in autoimmune panels at multiple time-points with PFS.

    Time frame: 18 months

    Change in reactivity of auto-immune antibodies as outlined above with PFS per RECIST v1.1 and iRECIST.

  11. Correlation between the composition of the intestinal microbiome at different time-points with radiomic analysis using voxels lying inside the tumor volume of interest.

    Time frame: 18 months

    Correlation of bacteria taxa composition through 16S rRNA sequencing with radiomic analysis.

  12. Correlation between the reactivity of autoimmune panels at different time-points with radiomic analysis using voxels lying inside the tumor volume of interest.

    Time frame: 18 months

    Correlation of auto-immune antibodies as outlined above with radiomic analysis

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Aileen Trang

CONTACT

[email protected]

416-946-4501 ext. 7754

Anna Spreafico, MD

CONTACT

[email protected]

416-946-4501 ext. 3308

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University Health Network, Toronto

Other

Registry information

Acronym: INSPECT-IO

Important dates

Study start
2019
Primary completion
2027
Study completion
2027
First posted
Sep 27, 2019
Registry last updated
Jun 9, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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