Skip to main content

A Study of Pembrolizumab With Trastuzumab and Chemotherapy in People With Esophagogastric Cancer

  • PhasePhase 2
  • StatusRecruiting
  • Planned enrollment49 people
  • Recruiting US sites9
  • SponsorMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
  • RegistryNCT06123338

Recruitment re-checked on ClinicalTrials.gov Oct 30, 2026. Public record; not medical advice.

A Study of Pembrolizumab With Trastuzumab and Chemotherapy in People With Esophagogastric Cancer: a one-minute explainerNCT061233381 min

Eligibility

Who can join

The film gives the main points. The full list below is copied from the registry; the study team makes the final decision.

  • Age18 Years to no maximum
  • SexAll
  • Healthy volunteersNo

You may be able to join if

  • Age 18 years or older at time of signing informed consent.
  • ECOG performance status 0-1.
  • HER2+ esophageal, GEJ, or gastric adenocarcinoma biopsy or resection specimen as defined by local HER2 IHC3+ or IHC 2+/FISH>2.0 expression.
  • Complete surgical resection of the primary tumor must be achievable
  • Demonstrate adequate organ function as defined in Table 1.
  • Table 1 - Organ Function Requirements for Eligibility Hematological
  • Absolute neutrophil count (ANC): ≥1,500 /mcL
  • Platelets: ≥100,000 / mcL
  • Hemoglobin: ≥8 g/dL Renal
  • Creatinine clearance: ≥ 50 mL/minute Hepatic
  • Serum total bilirubin: ≤ 1.5 X ULN OR Direct bilirubin ≤ ULN for subjects with total bilirubin levels > 1.5 ULN. Except patients with Gilbert's disease (≤3x ULN)
  • AST and ALT: ≤ 2.5 X ULN
  • Albumin: >3 mg/dL Coagulation
  • International normalized ratio (INR) OR prothrombin time (PT) Activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT): <1.5 x ULN unless participant is receiving anticoagulant therapy as long as PT or aPTT is within therapeutic range of intended use of anticoagulants
  • Male participants: A male participant must agree to use contraception as detailed in Section 15.3 of this protocol during the treatment period and for at least 230 days (5 terminal half-lives of trastuzumab [140] plus an additional 90 days [spermatogenesis cycle]) after the last dose of study treatment and refrain from donating sperm during this period.
  • Female participants: A female participant is eligible to participate if she is not pregnant, not breastfeeding, and at least one of the following conditions applies:
  • Not a woman of childbearing potential (WOCBP) as defined in section 15.3 OR
  • A WOCBP who agrees to follow the contraceptive guidance in section 15.3 during the treatment period and for at least 170 days (140 days plus an additional 30 days [menstruation cycle]) after the last dose of study treatment.

You cannot join if

  • Presence of metastatic or recurrent disease.
  • Has received prior treatment for esophagogastric cancer
  • Has received prior therapy with an anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, or anti-CTLA-4 agent.
  • Has received prior therapy with an anti-HER2 agent
  • Left ventricular ejection fraction <50% within 1 month of screening by MUGA or echocardiogram. Patients with an ejection fraction 45-49% may be permissible in the absence of any cardiac symptoms, if cleared by a cardiologist, and per the investigator's discresion.
  • Is currently participating and receiving study therapy or has participated in a study of an investigational agent and received study therapy or used an investigational device within 4 weeks of the first dose of treatment.
  • Has a diagnosis of immunodeficiency or is receiving systemic steroid therapy or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days prior to the first dose of trial treatment.
  • Patients who have received acute, low dose, systemic immunosuppressant medications (e.g., dexamethasone containing antiemetic regimen or steroids as CT scan contrast premedication) may be enrolled.
  • The use of inhaled corticosteroids and mineralocorticoids (e.g., fludrocortisone) for patients with orthostatic hypotension or adrenocortical insufficiency is allowed.
  • Has a known history of active TB (Bacillus tuberculosis)
  • Hypersensitivity to pembrolizumab or any of its excipients
  • Has been diagnosed or treated for another malignancy in the past 3 years (not including non-melanoma skin cancer)
  • Has known active central nervous system (CNS) metastases and/or carcinomatous meningitis
  • Has known history of, or any evidence of active, non-infectious pneumonitis.
  • Has an active infection requiring systemic therapy.
  • Has a history or current evidence of any condition, therapy, or laboratory abnormality that might confound the results of the trial, interfere with the subject's participation for the full duration of the trial, or is not in the best interest of the subject to participate, in the opinion of the treating investigator.
  • Has known psychiatric or substance abuse disorders that would interfere with cooperation with the requirements of the trial.
  • Is pregnant or breastfeeding, or expecting to conceive or father children within the projected duration of the trial, starting with the pre-screening or screening visit through 120 days after the last dose of trial treatment.
  • A WOCBP who has a positive urine pregnancy test within 72 hours prior to allocation. If the urine test is positive or cannot be confirmed as negative, a serum pregnancy test will be required.
  • Has had an allogeneic tissue or solid organ transplant
  • Active or prior documented autoimmune or inflammatory disorders (including inflammatory bowel disease; systemic lupus erythematosus; Wegener syndrome [granulomatosis with polyangiitis]; myasthenia gravis; Graves' disease; rheumatoid arthritis, hypophysitis, uveitis) within the past 3 years prior to the start of treatment. The following are exceptions to this criterion:
  • Subjects with vitiligo or alopecia
  • Subjects with hypothyroidism (e.g., following Hashimoto syndrome) stable on hormone replacement or psoriasis not requiring systemic treatment.
  • Has a known history of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (HIV 1/2 antibodies).
  • Has known active Hepatitis B (e.g., HBsAg reactive) or Hepatitis C (e.g., HCV RNA [qualitative] is detected).
  • Has received a live vaccine within 30 days of planned start of study therapy. Note: Seasonal influenza vaccines for injection are generally inactivated flu vaccines and are allowed; however intranasal influenza vaccines (e.g., Flu-Mist®) are live attenuated vaccines, and are not allowed.
  • Is unwilling to give written informed consent, unwilling to participate, or unable to comply with the protocol for the duration of the study.

The treatment

How it is intended to work

This is how the treatment is meant to work. Whether it helps, and how safe it is, is what this trial is testing.

ado-trastuzumab emtansine. An antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) consisting of the recombinant anti-epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) monoclonal antibody trastuzumab conjugated to the maytansinoid DM1 via a nonreducible thioether linkage (MCC) with potential antineoplastic activity. The trastuzumab moiety of this ADC binds to HER2 on tumor cell surfaces; upon internalization, the DM1 moiety is released and binds to tubulin, thereby disrupting microtubule assembly/disassembly dynamics and inhibiting cell division and the proliferation of cancer cells that overexpress HER2. Linkage of antibody and drug through a nonreducible linker has been reported to contribute to the improved efficacy and reduced toxicity of this ADC compared to similar ADCs constructed with reducible linkers. NCI Drug Dictionary

pembrolizumab. A humanized monoclonal immunoglobulin (Ig) G4 antibody directed against human cell surface receptor PD-1 (programmed death-1 or programmed cell death-1) with potential immune checkpoint inhibitory and antineoplastic activities. Upon administration, pembrolizumab binds to PD-1, an inhibitory signaling receptor expressed on the surface of activated T cells, and blocks the binding to and activation of PD-1 by its ligands, which results in the activation of T-cell-mediated immune responses against tumor cells. The ligands for PD-1 include programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1), overexpressed on certain cancer cells, and programmed cell death ligand 2 (PD-L2), which is primarily expressed on APCs. Activated PD-1 negatively regulates T-cell activation and plays a key role in in tumor evasion from host immunity. NCI Drug Dictionary

Treatments listed in the registry

  • Pembrolizumab (Drug): Pembrolizumab will be administered on an every 3-week dosing schedule
  • Trastuzumab (Drug): Trastuzumab will be administered on an every 3-week dosing schedule
  • Oxaliplatin (Drug): Oxaliplatin every 3 weeks, +/-7 days
  • Capecitabine (Drug): Capecitabine twice daily on days 1 to 14 every 3 weeks or 5-FU on days 1 to 5 every 3 weeks
  • 5-Fluorouracil (Drug): 5-Fluorouracil administered as a 24 hour IV continuous infusion once every 2 weeks
  • Docetaxel (Drug): Docetaxel administered intravenously once every 2 weeks.
  • Nutrition questionnaires (optional) (Other): will be collected (optionally)
  • stool and saliva samples (optional) (Other): will be collected (optionally)

The study

Treatment groups

Na · Single Group · masking: None

Esophagogastric Cancer (Experimental)

Participants will have a diagnosis of resectable HER2+ (IHC 3+ or IHC 2+/FISH ratio >2.0) esophageal, GEJ or gastric cancer.

What it involves

Procedures

As the registry describes them. Requirements to join, such as a tissue sample, are in the eligibility list above even when on-study procedures are optional. Ask the study team which steps apply to you.

  • questionnaires: Part of the study plan

Goals

What the study measures

Main goals

  • Event-free survival (EFS) (2 years)

Planned enrollment: 49 (estimated).

Where

Recruiting US sites

  • Massachusetts General Hospital (Data Collection Only), Boston, Massachusetts
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Basking Ridge (Limited Protocol Activities), Basking Ridge, New Jersey
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Monmouth (Limited Protocol Activities), Middletown, New Jersey
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Bergen (Limited Protocol Activities), Montvale, New Jersey
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Suffolk-Commack (Limited protocol activity), Commack, New York
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Westchester (Limited Protocol Activities), Harrison, New York
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (All Protocol Activities), New York, New York
  • Memorial Sloan Kettering Nassau (Limited Protocol Activities), Uniondale, New York
  • MD Anderson Cancer Center (Data Collection Only), Houston, Texas

Site status as of Oct 30, 2026. Check the live record before contacting a site.

Sources

Where this comes from

Registry record reviewed as fetched Oct 30, 2026, last updated by the sponsor Oct 12, 2026. Public record; not medical advice.

For you, or someone you love

Whether or not this trial is the one, bring AI into your corner.

A complex diagnosis brings new questions every week, in a trial and out of one. Triangle keeps your whole medical file together, reads it with you in plain language, and helps you and your family decide what to ask next.

Start your 7-day free trial

Then $9 a month. Cancel anytime.

  • Every record in one place

    Requested from your hospitals and clinics through the national networks. Add scans, pathology and anything on paper.

  • Read in plain words

    Reports explained as they come in, with lab values you can follow before treatment, during a trial and after.

  • Ready for every appointment

    Ask about your own file, and walk in with questions for your oncologist or the trial team.

  • Your people, in the loop

    Share one profile with the family helping you, and with your doctors.

Members also get a deeper analysis of their records and any sequencing data, including clinical trials that may fit, reviewed by a licensed physician before they receive it.

Already in a trial?

It turns into a project to manage: visits, scans, labs, side effects and paperwork. Triangle keeps it organized in one place for you or for whoever's helping.

Organize my trial

7-day free trial, then $9 a month. Cancel anytime.