Skip to main content
An official website of the United States government

A Study of Rucaparib and Nivolumab in Patients with Leiomyosarcoma

Trial Status: temporarily closed to accrual

This phase II trial studies the effect of rucaparib and nivolumab in treating patients with leiomyosarcoma that cannot be removed by surgery (unresectable) or has spread to other places in the body (metastatic). Rucaparib is a type of drug called a PARP inhibitor. PARP is a protein that helps repair damage to deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the genetic material that serves as the body’s instruction book. Changes (mutations) in DNA can cause cancer cells to grow quickly and out of control. But PARP inhibitors have been shown to prevent PARP from working, so cancer cells can’t repair themselves, and they stop growing. Nivolumab is an antibody, like the proteins made by the immune system to protect the body from harm. Nivolumab blocks the protein PD 1 (programmed cell death receptor 1) that usually acts as a “brake” on the immune system. Blocking this protein is like releasing the brakes, so that the immune system can target cancer cells and destroy them. Combining the drugs rucaparib and nivolumab may boost the immune system in patients with leiomyosarcoma to fight the cancer and prevent the growth of new cancer cells.