Evaluating 111In Panitumumab for Nodal Staging in Head and Neck Cancer

March 3, 2026 updated by: Eben Rosenthal, Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center
This phase I trial tests the safety and effectiveness of indium In 111 panitumumab (111In-panitumumab) for identifying the first lymph nodes to which cancer has spread from the primary tumor (sentinel lymph nodes) in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) undergoing surgery. The most important factor for survival for many cancer types is the presence of cancer that has spread to the lymph nodes (metastasis). Lymph node metastases in patients with head and neck cancer reduce the 5-year survival by half. Sometimes, the disease is too small to be found on clinical and imaging exams before surgery. 111In-panitumumab is in a class of medications called radioimmunoconjugates. It is composed of a radioactive substance (indium In 111) linked to a monoclonal antibody (panitumumab). Panitumumab binds to EGFR receptors, a receptor that is over-expressed on the surface of many tumor cells and plays a role in tumor cell growth. Once 111In-panitumumab binds to tumor cells, it is able to be seen using an imaging technique called single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT). SPECT/CT can be used to make detailed pictures of the inside of the body and to visualize areas where the radioactive drug has been taken up by the cells. Using 111In-panitumumab with SPECT/CT imaging may improve identification of sentinel lymph nodes in patients with head and neck squamous cell cancer undergoing surgery.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
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.

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:

I. Assess the safety of indium In 111 panitumumab (111In-panitumumab) as a molecular imaging agent in patients with HNSCC.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVE:

I. Compare sensitivity and specificity of identifying sentinel lymph nodes by systemic injection of 111In-panitumumab prior to day of surgery versus conventional local injection with an optical dye at the time of surgery.

EXPLORATORY OBJECTIVES:

I. Determine if systemic injection of 111In-panitumumab can identify tumor-positive lymph nodes on preoperative SPECT/CT.

II. When preoperative imaging information (eg, fludeoxyglucose F 18 [18F-FDG] positron emission tomography [PET]/CT and/or magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]) data is available:

IIa. Evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value of 111In-panitumumab SPECT/CT findings to the sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value of preoperative MRI in identifying metastatic lymph nodes (histopathological results will serve as the gold standard).

IIb. Evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value of 111In-panitumumab SPECT/CT findings to the sensitivity, specificity, and negative predictive value of preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT in identifying metastatic lymph nodes (histopathological results will serve as the gold standard).

OUTLINE:

Patients receive loading dose of panitumumab intravenously (IV) over 15 minutes followed by 111In-panitumumab IV bolus on day 0. Patients then undergo SPECT/CT scan between day 1 and day of standard of care surgery (up to day 5). During standard of care surgery, patients receive local injection of optical dye per surgeon's preference and undergo intraoperative and near infrared (NIR) imaging. Patients additionally undergo blood sample collection during screening and electrocardiography (ECG) during screening, on day 0, and on day 15 if indicated.

Patients are followed for up to 15 days after last dose of study medication.

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.
30

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.
  • Phase 1

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
    • Tennessee
      • Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 37232
        • Recruiting
        • Vanderbilt University/Ingram Cancer Center
        • Contact:
          • Vanderbilt-Ingram Service Services for Timely Access
          • Phone Number: 800-811-8480
          • Email: cip@vumc.org
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Eben Rosenthal, MD

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age ≥ 19 years.
  • Biopsy-confirmed diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, clinically-staged as node-negative (cN0) or as clinically-suspicious node(s).
  • Subjects diagnosed with any T stage, any subsite within the head and neck that are scheduled to undergo surgical resection. Subjects with recurrent disease or a new primary will be allowed.
  • Planned standard of care elective neck dissection for node-negative or node-positive disease.

  • Have acceptable hematologic status, kidney function, and liver function including the following clinical results:

    • Hemoglobin ≥ 9 gm/dL
    • White blood cell count > 3000/mm^3
    • Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm^3
    • Serum creatinine ≤ 1.5 times upper reference range

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Myocardial infarction (MI); cerebrovascular accident (CVA); uncontrolled congestive heart failure (CHF); significant liver disease; or unstable angina within 6 months prior to enrollment.
  • History of infusion reactions to monoclonal antibody therapies
  • History of allergies to iodine
  • Pregnant or breastfeeding.
  • Magnesium or potassium lower than the normal institutional values.
  • Subjects receiving Class IA (quinidine, procainamide) or Class III (dofetilide, amiodarone, sotalol) antiarrhythmic agents.
  • Subjects with a history or evidence of interstitial pneumonitis or pulmonary fibrosis.
  • Severe renal disease or anuria.

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

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: Diagnostic (panitumumab, 111In-panitumumab, SPECT/CT, surgery)
Patients receive loading dose of panitumumab IV over 15 minutes followed by 111In-panitumumab IV bolus on day 0. Patients then undergo SPECT/CT scan between day 1 and day of standard of care surgery (up to day 5). During standard of care surgery, patients receive local injection of optical dye per surgeon's preference and undergo intraoperative and NIR imaging. Patients additionally undergo blood sample collection during screening and ECG during screening, on day 0, and on day 15 if indicated.
Procedure: Biospecimen Collection
Undergo blood sample collection
Procedure: Computed Tomography
Undergo SPECT/CT
Procedure: Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography
Undergo SPECT/CT
Procedure: Surgical Procedure
Undergo standard of care surgery
Biological: Panitumumab
Given by IV
Other: Indium In 111 Panitumumab
Given by IV
Other: Imaging agent
Receive local injection of optical dye
Procedure: Intraoperative Imaging
Undergo Intraoperative Imaging
Procedure: Near Infrared Imaging
Undergo Near Infrared Imaging
Procedure: Electrocardiography
Undergo Electrocardiography

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
Incidence of adverse events grade 2 or higher
Time Frame: Up to 15 days after administration of study drug
Toxicity graded using the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0. Summarized by grade, severity and type
Up to 15 days after administration of study drug

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
Sensitivity of systemic injection of indium In 111 panitumumab (111In-panitumumab) for identifying sentinel lymph nodes
Time Frame: Up to five years
Will compare the sensitivity of systemic injection of 111In-panitumumab for identifying sentinel lymph nodes to the sensitivity of conventional local injection with an optical dye at the time of surgery. Means and standard deviations for continuous characteristics will be presented. Frequency statistics will be presented for categorical variables. Graphical tools may be used to assess distributional properties of continuous variables.
Up to five years
Specificity of systemic injection of 111In-panitumumab for identifying sentinel lymph nodes
Time Frame: Up to five years
Will compare the specificity of systemic injection of 111In-panitumumab for identifying sentinel lymph nodes to the sensitivity of conventional local injection with an optical dye at the time of surgery. Means and standard deviations for continuous characteristics will be presented. Frequency statistics will be presented for categorical variables. Graphical tools may be used to assess distributional properties of continuous variables.
Up to five 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.
Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
American Cancer Society, Inc.

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: Eben Rosenthal, MD, Vanderbilt University/Ingram Cancer Center

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.
August 22, 2023

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.
November 30, 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.
November 30, 2029

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).
June 4, 2023

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.
June 4, 2023

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.
June 13, 2023

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.
March 5, 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.
March 3, 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.
February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

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.
  • VICC-EDHAN23201P
  • NCI-2023-03821 (Registry Identifier: NCI, Clinical Trials Reporting Program)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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