A phase II study of pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy with short-course radiotherapy as induction treatment for unresectable locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma: PALADIN trial.
A new combination approach adding short radiation bursts to immunotherapy and chemotherapy is being tested for advanced throat cancer.
The PALADIN trial is a Phase II study combining pembrolizumab, cisplatin/5-FU chemotherapy, and short-course radiotherapy (25 Gy in 5 fractions) as induction therapy for unresectable LAESCC, targeting 2-year OS as primary endpoint in a planned enrollment of 35 patients at Japan's National Cancer Center. This trial design publication documents the rationale and methodology without reporting efficacy data; Signatera ctDNA is included as an exploratory MRD endpoint.
What the study was
- Study design
- Phase II clinical trial design/protocol publication (no efficacy results reported)
- Population
- Unresectable locally advanced esophageal SCC patients (T3br-T4b per Japanese classification), planned n=35
- Sample size
- 35
- Category
- Treatment Innovation
- Maturity
- Exploratory
- Journal
- ESMO Gastrointest Oncol
Why it surfaced
Trial design publication only; no results yet. Interesting combination (pembro+SCRT+chemo for LAESCC) but unscoreable for efficacy until results reported. PMC full text available.
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