Radiotherapy Dose De-escalation in HPV-Associated Cancers of the Oropharynx

June 10, 2026 updated by: Duke University

Radiotherapy Dose De-escalation in HPV-Associated Cancers of the Oropharynx Using Metabolic Signature From Interim 18FDG-PET/CT

The purpose of this study is to use intra-treatment 18FDG-PET/CT during definitive radiation therapy for human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) as an imaging biomarker to identify and select patients with a favorable response for chemoradiation dose de-escalation. This study will prospectively evaluate the clinical outcomes for patients undergoing dose de-escalation.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
120

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • North Carolina
      • Durham, North Carolina, United States, 27710
        • Duke University Medical Center
      • Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, 27609
        • Duke Raleigh Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Histologic documentation of squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx with p16-positive immunohistochemical staining and/or positive HPV in situ hybridization (ISH) and/or positive HPV PCR
  • Stage I-III (AJCC 8th edition) with plan for concurrent chemotherapy per standard of care treatment
  • Zubrod/ECOG score of 0-1
  • Weight loss <10% in the 3 months prior to diagnosis
  • ≥ 18 years of age
  • No prior chemotherapy for their current cancer diagnosis

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Prior radiotherapy to the head and neck
  • Medical contraindications to radiation therapy
  • Absence of gross disease on imaging prior to beginning radiation therapy
  • Distant metastatic disease
  • Medical contraindication to PET/CT
  • History of active cancer other than non-melanoma skin cancer within the last 5 years

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Interim PET-CT with dose de-escalation
Participants will receive an interim PET-CT approximately 2 weeks into radiation therapy.
Radiation: De-escalated radiation dose
Reduced dose of radiation applied to remaining radiation therapy when favorable interim PET-CT signature is produced
Other: 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET)-Computed Tomography (CT)
The CT scan - also called computerized tomography or just CT - combines a series of X-ray views taken from many different angles to produce cross-sectional images of the bones and soft tissues inside the body. CT scans in planning radiation therapy are standard of care. A PET is a highly specialized imaging technique that uses short-lived radioactive substances (such as FDG a simple sugar labeled with a radioactive atom) to produce three-dimensional colored images of those substances functioning within the body. These images are called PET scans and the technique is termed PET scanning. PET scanning provides information about the body's chemistry not available through other procedures. Unlike CT or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), techniques that look at anatomy or body form, PET studies metabolic activity or body function.
Other Names:
  • 18 FDG-PET/CT
Active Comparator: Interim PET-CT with standard radiation
Other: 18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET)-Computed Tomography (CT)
The CT scan - also called computerized tomography or just CT - combines a series of X-ray views taken from many different angles to produce cross-sectional images of the bones and soft tissues inside the body. CT scans in planning radiation therapy are standard of care. A PET is a highly specialized imaging technique that uses short-lived radioactive substances (such as FDG a simple sugar labeled with a radioactive atom) to produce three-dimensional colored images of those substances functioning within the body. These images are called PET scans and the technique is termed PET scanning. PET scanning provides information about the body's chemistry not available through other procedures. Unlike CT or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), techniques that look at anatomy or body form, PET studies metabolic activity or body function.
Other Names:
  • 18 FDG-PET/CT
Radiation: Standard radiation dose
Standard dose of radiation applied to remaining radiation therapy when favorable PET-CT signature is not produced

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Progression-free survival
Time Frame: from initiation of radiation therapy through study completion, an average of 2 years
defined as the time between initiation of radiation treatment and the first documented recurrence of disease or death due to any cause as measured by medical record abstraction
from initiation of radiation therapy through study completion, an average of 2 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
locoregional progression-free survival
Time Frame: from initiation of radiation therapy through study completion, an average of 2 years
as measured by abstraction from the medical record
from initiation of radiation therapy through study completion, an average of 2 years
distant disease-free survival
Time Frame: from initiation of radiation therapy through study completion, an average of 2 years
as measured by abstraction from the medical record
from initiation of radiation therapy through study completion, an average of 2 years
overall survival
Time Frame: from initiation of radiation therapy through study completion, an average of 2 years
as measured by abstraction from the medical record
from initiation of radiation therapy through study completion, an average of 2 years
progression free survival correlation in PET/CT responders versus PET/CT non-responders
Time Frame: 2 years
as measured by the difference in median Kaplan-Meyer values
2 years
Acute adverse events
Time Frame: 7 weeks
as measured by the number of participants who experience dermatitis, mucositis, xerostomia, dysphagia, dysgeusia, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, nausea, vomiting, renal toxicity, and hearing loss
7 weeks
Long term adverse events
Time Frame: 2 years
as measured by the number of participants who experience xerostomia, dysphagia, dysgeusia, trismus, lymphedema, superficial soft tissue fibrosis, hypothyroidism and periodontal disease
2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Duke University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Jared Robbins, MD, DUHS

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
April 12, 2021

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
July 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
July 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
November 19, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
December 8, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
December 14, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
June 12, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
June 10, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • Pro00105899

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

Yes

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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