# Pembrolizumab with or without anetumab ravtansine in mesothelin-positive pleural mesothelioma (NCI)

Source: https://onco.cc/trials/nci-anetumab-pembrolizumab-mpm/  
OnCo record `nci-anetumab-pembrolizumab-mpm` (Trial). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The one trial still testing an antibody-drug conjugate in mesothelioma, combining it with PD-1 blockade on the theory that payload-induced cell death primes an immune response.

## Summary

This National Cancer Institute study enrolled 49 patients with mesothelin-positive pleural mesothelioma after prior therapy. A phase 1 run-in established the dose of anetumab ravtansine with pembrolizumab, and the phase 2 part randomised patients to pembrolizumab with or without the conjugate. The study is active but no longer recruiting, with results awaited. It is the only remaining clinical test of an ADC in mesothelioma recorded on ClinicalTrials.gov.

## Fields

- Kind: Trial
- Status: active
- Last checked: 2026-09-11
- Tags: owner-request
- Registry id: NCT03126630
- Phase: 1/2
- Setting: Previously treated mesothelin-positive pleural mesothelioma; phase 1 safety run-in then randomisation between pembrolizumab alone and pembrolizumab with anetumab ravtansine, started October 2018
- Sponsor: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
- Enrolled: 49

## Sources

- ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03126630: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03126630

## Connected records

- cancers: [Mesothelioma](https://onco.cc/cancers/mesothelioma/)
- technologies: [Antibody-drug conjugate (ADC)](https://onco.cc/technologies/adc/), [Immune checkpoint inhibitors](https://onco.cc/technologies/checkpoint-inhibitor/)
- targets: [Mesothelin](https://onco.cc/targets/mesothelin/)
- drugs: [Anetumab ravtansine](https://onco.cc/drugs/anetumab-ravtansine/), [Pembrolizumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/pembrolizumab/)
- institutions: [National Cancer Institute (NIH)](https://onco.cc/institutions/nci/)
- ideas: [Antibody-drug conjugates for mesothelioma: why they have failed so far and how they could work](https://onco.cc/ideas/idea-adc-for-mesothelioma/)

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