Investigational Radioenhancer Shows Feasibility in Stage III NSCLC

Intratumoral or intranodal therapy with JNJ-1900 (NBTXR3) demonstrated feasibility and safety in a small cohort of patients with stage III unresectable non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a press release on findings from part 1 of the phase 2 CONVERGE trial (NCT06667908).¹

According to data presented at the 2026 European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology Annual Meeting, the overall response rate (ORR) was 85.7% (n = 6/7) among patients who completed the full regimen of concurrent chemoradiotherapy followed by JNJ-1900 and consolidation therapy with durvalumab (Imfinzi). Additionally, 57.1% (n = 4/7) of patients experienced a complete response (CR), and the treatment regimen produced a disease control rate (DCR) of 100.0% (n = 7/7). The investigators noted that the absence of progressive disease, along with the deepening responses, may suggest long-term durability of activity.

“I would love for more centers to try to get [JNJ-1900] open at their institution. It’s a fantastic opportunity to try to improve a standard of care that hasn’t budged much in the last decade or so,” study investigator Benjamin Cooper, MD, stated in an interview with CancerNetwork^® regarding previous findings from the CONVERGE trial. “[JNJ-1900] has the advantage of being directed into the tumor with only a local effect in the tumor, and we may have an opportunity to use these radiosensitizers in NSCLC as well as other diseases.”

Cooper is an associate professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, site director of Radiation Oncology at Perlmutter Cancer Center 34th campus, and director of Proton Therapy Services Radiation Oncology.

Developers designed JNJ-1900 as a potential first-in-class product made up of functionalized hafnium oxide nanoparticles, which are administered as a 1-time intratumoral injection and activated via radiotherapy. The agent is intended to facilitate significant tumor cell death in the injected tumor following the activation of radiotherapy, which subsequently triggers adaptive immune responses and long-term anti-cancer memory. Developers hypothesize that the novel radioenhancer may be scalable across any solid tumor that can be managed with radiotherapy and combined with other agents like immune checkpoint inhibitors.

In part 1 of the open-label CONVERGE trial, patients were assigned to receive JNJ-1900 intratumorally at a dose of 22% of the gross tumor volume (GTV) in cohort A or 33% of the GTV in cohort B plus concurrent chemoradiotherapy and consolidation immunotherapy.² In part 2 of the trial, patients will be assigned to receive JNJ-1900 at 22% of the GTV in arm A or 33% of the GTV in arm B; this portion of the study will also include a comparator arm in which patients received concurrent chemoradiotherapy plus consolidation immunotherapy alone.

The trial’s primary end point is ORR per independent central review. Secondary end points include DCR, ORR per investigator evaluation, progression-free survival, duration of response, time to locoregional failure, time to distant failure, and number of patients with treatment-emergent adverse effects.

Patients 18 years and older with a pathologically confirmed diagnosis of NSCLC within 3 months prior randomization; locally advanced, unresectable, stage III disease; at least 1 target lesion determined by investigator assessment at screening, and an ECOG performance status of 0 or 1 are eligible for enrollment on the trial. Being a candidate for standard-of-care therapy with concurrent platinum-based doublet chemotherapy with radiotherapy followed by consolidation durvalumab per investigator assessment was another requirement for study entry.

Having a medical history of primary immunodeficiency or organ transplant requiring therapeutic immunosuppression was grounds for exclusion from the trial. Patients were also ineligible for study entry if they had severe or unstable angina, myocardial infarction, or clinically significant ventricular arrhythmias or heart failure within 3 months of randomization; another concurrent or prior primary malignancy within 3 years of informed consent; or a history of coagulation disorders.

References

1. Nanobiotix announces presentation of part 1 data from a randomized phase 2 clinical trial evaluating JNJ-1900 (NBTXR3) in stage 3 inoperable lung cancer. News release. Nanobiotix. May 17, 2026. Accessed May 18, 2026. https://tinyurl.com/3evudumc
2. A study of JNJ-90301900 in combination with chemoradiation followed by consolidation immunotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (CONVERGE). ClinicalTrials.gov. Updated May 11, 2026. Accessed May 18, 2026. https://tinyurl.com/2atwv858