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PERSEUS1: A trial looking at pembrolizumab for prostate cancer

In follow up

What is the study about? 

PERSEUS1 investigates a new treatment for people with advanced prostate cancer.

Pembrolizumab is a type of treatment called an immunotherapy. It works by reactivating the body’s immune system to attack the cancer cells. It may work best for people whose cancer cells have an abnormality (mutation) which either helps to deactivate the immune system or reduces cells’ ability to repair DNA.

The results of this study will indicate whether pembrolizumab is an effective treatment for people who have advanced prostate cancer with a mutation.

Who is included in the study?

PERSEUS1 includes people with advanced prostate cancer whose treatment is no longer working. Everyone in the trial will have cancer with a mutation which means pembrolizumab may work for them. This mutation may have been found in a screening study like MAESTRO. Up to 100 people from NHS hospitals in the UK will join the study.

What are the study treatments?

Everyone who joins the trial will receive pembrolizumab treatment for up to two years. Participants have regular check ups during and after their treatment and we collect information about how they are getting on until the study is completed.

Further information for participants  

Patient Information Sheet

A detailed summary is available on Cancer Research UK’s website

 

Further information for healthcare professionals 

Trial Summary

Contact details and regulatory information

Chief Investigator: Professor Johann de Bono, The Institute of Cancer Research

ICR-CTSU Scientific Lead: Professor Christina Yap

Trial management contact: [email protected] 

Sponsor: The Institute of Cancer Research 

Funding: Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD)

Trial identifiers

EUDRACT number: 2017-000931-15

REC reference: 18/LO/0825

CPMS ID: 37624

ClinicalTrial.govNCT03506997

Publications and Presentations

P. Rescigno, M. Dolores Fenor de la Maza, S. Burnett, G. Villacampa, M. Stiles, F. Cafferty, N. Beije, S. Carreira, I. Figueiredo, P. Flohr, B. Gurel, C. Bertan, D. Westaby, K. Chandran, M. Crespo, C. Perna, N. Tunariu, A. Sharp, C. Yap, and J. De Bono (2024). Phase II trial of pembrolizumab for patients suffering from metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) with DNA repair defects, high tumour mutation burden, and/or high CD3 counts (PERSEUS1).
ASCO Genitourinary Cancers Symposium 2024, San Francisco, USA. Poster presentation, January 2024.
 
S. Burnett, N. Porta, A. Sarvadikar, A. Gillman, P. Flohr, I. Figueiredo, A. Sharp, P. Rescigno, J. De Bono and E. Hall (2019). Designing and implementing a phase II targeted treatment platform study: a modular approach in metastatic Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC).
International Clinical Trials Methodology Conference 2019, Brighton, UK. Oral presentation, October 2019.
 
P. Rescigno, S. Burnett, N. Porta, A. Sarvadikar, P. Flohr, I. Figueiredo, D. Bianchini, S. Carreira, R. Riisnaes, S. Miranda, M. Crespo, B. Gurel, M. Lambros, C. Bertan, M. Clarke, G. Seed, A. Ferreira, A. Da Silva Pereira, E. Hall and J. De Bono (2019). MAESTRO/PERSEUS: A phase II molecular stratification/treatment platform in Metastatic Castration Resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC) – PERSEUS1 (pembrolizumab; NCT03506997).
National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI) Conference 2019, Glasgow, UK. Poster presentation, November 2019.

Clinical trials

Division of Clinical Studies

The division carries out or coordinates high-quality trials and translational research at both an early phase – typically to test new targeted drugs – and a later stage.