Preclinical and clinical evidence suggests that intestinal low-dose radiotherapy (ILDR) may enhance antitumor immune responses by modulating the gut microenvironment, thereby improving the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICBs) in refractory solid tumors. Based on these findings, the investigators initiate a multicohort phase II clinical trial to evaluate the clinical benefit and safety of ILDR combined with PD-1/PD-L1 monoclonal antibody therapy in patients with metastatic solid tumors resistant to prior ICB treatment.
In this study, patients are stratified into three parallel cohorts by tumor type (lung cancer, esophageal cancer, and other solid tumors), with 16 patients per cohort (48 in total, including subjects enrolled from the ILDR-01 study). Eligible participants includes patients with advanced metastatic solid tumors progressing after monotherapy or combination ICB treatment, meeting criteria of ECOG performance status 0-2, life expectancy ≥3 months, and have at least one measurable lesion. Exclusion criteria encompasses prior pelvic radiotherapy, ongoing infections, major organ dysfunction, or concurrent antitumor therapies.
The primary endpoints includes objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), progression-free survival after ILDR (PFS2), and the incidence of abscopal effects. Secondary endpoints includes overall survival (OS), treatment safety, α/β diversity changes in gut microbiota, peripheral blood immune cell subset dynamics, and tumor immune microenvironment remodeling characteristics. All patients receives a 1 Gy jejunoileal radiotherapy followed by PD-1/PD-L1 monoclonal antibody administration (in accordance to prior protocols or guidelines) within 24 hours, with maintenance therapy up to 2 years. Therapeutic efficacy is assessed via RECIST v1.1, while therapeutic toxicity is assessed according to CTCAE v5.0.
Paired pre- and post-treatment samples (including wumor tissue, stool, peripheral blood etc.) are collected for metagenomic sequencing, metabolomic analysis, and multi-omics integrative modeling to systematically elucidate the regulation mechanism of gut microbiota-metabolite-immune axis mediated by ILDR. This approach aims to provide theoretical foundations for optimizing treatment strategies in immunotherapy-resistant tumors and identify biomarkers that potentially associated with therapeutic efficacy.