Trial reportThe oncologist2025
Pembrolizumab ± paricalcitol in metastatic pancreatic cancer postmaximal cytoreduction.
Trial report in The oncologist, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03331562 (A SU2C Catalyst ® Randomized Phase II Trial of the PD1 Inhibitor Pembrolizumab With or Without a Vitamin D Receptor Agonist Paricalcitol in Patients With Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer Who Have Been Placed in Best Possible Response), which is not on this map. Cited by 10 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A SU2C Catalyst ® Randomized Phase II Trial of the PD1 Inhibitor Pembrolizumab With or Without a Vitamin D Receptor Agonist Paricalcitol in Patients With Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer Who Have Been Placed in Best Possible Response
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed.
- Co-Clinical Evaluation of Synthetic Vitamin D and Chemotherapy in Pancreatic Cancer by Integrated Imaging and Molecular Analyses.Cancer research communications · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Biomarker-Driven Strategies for Stromal Reprogramming in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma.Cells · 2026Review
- Nanomaterials targeting cancer-associated fibroblasts to overcome stromal barriers in cancer immunotherapy.Journal of nanobiotechnology · 2026Review
- Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: integrating molecular insights for targeted interventions.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2026Review
- Cancer-associated fibroblasts in the tumor microenvironment: heterogeneity, crosstalk mechanisms, and therapeutic implications.Molecular cancer · 2025Review
- Metastatic heterogeneity in pancreatic cancer: mechanisms and opportunities for targeted intervention.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2025Review
- Review
- KDM6B enhances anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy efficacy by increasing CD8Journal of Cancer · 2025Article
- Interplay between bile acids, gut microbiota, and the tumor immune microenvironment: mechanistic insights and therapeutic strategies.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors.
Funding
Abstract
lessons learnedIntravenous paricalcitol did not improve the efficacy of pembrolizumab, likely related to the short half-life.
backgroundImmunotherapy has limited benefit in the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer with the tumor microenvironment playing a key role in immune resistance. In preclinical studies, vitamin D receptor (VDR) agonists have been shown to sensitize pancreatic tumors to PD-1 blockade.
methodsThis was a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, phase II trial to evaluate pembrolizumab with or without paricalcitol as maintenance therapy for patients with metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Participants were ≥18 years; histologically or cytologically confirmed metastatic PDAC showing no disease progression after frontline systemic therapy, and achieving maximal cytoreduction (eg, with no further antitumor effect), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) status of 0 or 1; adequate organ function. Study treatment included: pembrolizumab 200 mg IV every 3 weeks and either paricalcitol 25 mcg IV 3 times per week or placebo. The primary objective was to evaluate 6-month progression free survival (PFS). Secondary objectives include evaluating the toxicity of the combination and overall survival (OS).
resultsThere was no significant difference in 6-month PFS, median PFS, median OS, nor treatment-related AEs between the 2 arms. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Paricalcitol did not improve the efficacy of pembrolizumab likely related to its short half-life of only 5-7 hours. Microbiome analysis revealed significant difference between long-term (>12 weeks) and short-term (<12 weeks) survival groups across treatment arms. Modulation of the tumor microenvironment will likely require more sustained VDR activity.
trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov, ID: NCT03331562.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.