Cetuximab and Recombinant Interleukin-12 in Treating Patients With Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck That is Recurrent, Metastatic, or Cannot Be Removed by Surgery

A Phase I/II Trial of Cetuximab in Combination With Interleukin-12 Administered to Patients With Unresectable Primary or Recurrent Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

This phase I/II trial studies the side effects and best dose of recombinant interleukin-12 when given together with cetuximab and to see how well they work in treating patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck that has come back, spread to another place in the body, or cannot be removed by surgery. Recombinant interleukin-12 may stimulate the white blood cells to kill tumor cells. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as cetuximab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread Giving recombinant interleukin-12 together with cetuximab may kill more tumor cells.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Recurrent Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma; Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma; Unresectable Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Laboratory Biomarker Analysis; Biological: Cetuximab; Biological: Edodekin alfa

Detailed Description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To find a safe and tolerable interleukin (IL)-12 (recombinant interleukin-12) dose for use in combination with cetuximab in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. (Phase I) II. To determine the response rate to the combination of IL-12 and cetuximab. (Phase II)

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To characterize the immunologic effects of IL-12 when administered in combination with cetuximab.

OUTLINE: This is a phase I, dose-escalation study of recombinant IL-12 followed by a phase II study.

Patients receive cetuximab intravenously (IV) over 1-2 hours on day 1 and recombinant interleukin-12 subcutaneously (SC) on days 2 and 5 beginning in course 2. Treatment repeats every 2 weeks for 12 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients achieving clinical response or stable disease may continue with therapy until disease progression.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up for 1 year.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 23
• Phase: Phase 2; Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • District of Columbia
    • Washington D.C., District of Columbia, United States, 20007
      • MedStar Georgetown University Hospital
  • Ohio
    • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43210
      • Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients must have histologically-proven recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck that is unresectable; patients in the phase II portion of the trial must have measurable disease
• Any number of prior systemic therapies for metastatic/recurrent disease are permitted in both the phase I and II portions of the study; patients need not have received a prior cetuximab-based chemotherapy regimen to be eligible for this trial
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status =< 2 (Karnofsky >= 60%)
• Life expectancy of greater than 6 months
• Leukocytes >= 3,000/mcL
• Absolute neutrophil count >= 1,500/mcL
• Platelets >= 100,000/mcL
• Total bilirubin within normal institutional limits
• Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase [SGOT])/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase [SGPT]) =< 2.5 times upper limit of normal
• Creatinine within normal institutional limits OR creatinine clearance >= 60 mL/min/1.73 m^2 for patients with creatinine levels above institutional normal
• The effects of IL-12 on the developing human fetus are unknown; for this reason, women of child-bearing potential and men must agree to use adequate contraception (hormonal or barrier method of birth control; abstinence) prior to study entry and for the duration of study participation; should a woman become pregnant or suspect she is pregnant while participating in this study, she should inform her treating physician immediately
• Ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who have had chemotherapy or radiotherapy within 4 weeks (6 weeks for nitrosoureas or mitomycin C) prior to entering the study or those who have not recovered from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier
• Patients may not be receiving any other investigational agents
• Patients with known brain metastases may be enrolled if this site of disease has been adequately treated, the patient does not require steroids, and the patient has been stable for at least 3 months prior to enrollment
• History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to IL-12 or other agents used in study
• Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements
• Pregnant women are excluded from this study because IL-12 is an agent with the potential for teratogenic or abortifacient effects; because there is an unknown but potential risk for adverse events in nursing infants secondary to treatment of the mother with IL-12, breastfeeding should be discontinued if the mother is treated with IL-12; these potential risks may also apply to other agents used in this study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Treatment (cetuximab and recombinant interleukin-12); Patients receive cetuximab IV over 1-2 hours on day 1 and recombinant interleukin-12 SC on days 2 and 5 beginning in course 2. Treatment repeats every 2 weeks for 12 courses in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients achieving clinical response or stable disease may continue with therapy until disease progression.

Other: Laboratory Biomarker Analysis; Correlative studies; Biological: Cetuximab; Given IV; Other Names: C225; Erbitux; IMC-C225; Cetuximab Biosimilar CDP-1; Cetuximab Biosimilar CMAB009; Cetuximab Biosimilar KL 140; Chimeric Anti-EGFR Monoclonal Antibody; Chimeric MoAb C225; Chimeric Monoclonal Antibody C225; C-225; C 225; Biological: Edodekin alfa; Given SC; Other Names: IL-12; Ro 24-7472; Cytotoxic Lymphocyte Maturation Factor; Interleukin 12; Interleukin-12; Natural Killer Cell Stimulatory Factor; NM-IL-12; Recombinant human interleukin-12 (IL-12) cytokine

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Number of Dose-limiting Toxicity Incidents to Determine the Maximum Tolerated Dose of IL-12, Evaluated Using the National Cancer Institute Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events Version 4.0 (Phase I)		14 days
Proportion of Patients Who Have Any Response to Treatment (Complete Response or Partial Response), Determined According to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors (Phase II)	The proportion of successes will be estimated by the number of successes divided by the total number of evaluable patients. Ninety percent confidence intervals for the true success proportion will be calculated according to the approach of Duffy and Santner. Per Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors Criteria (RECIST v1.0) for target lesions and assessed by MRI: Complete Response (CR), Disappearance of all target lesions; Partial Response (PR), >=30% decrease in the sum of the longest diameter of target lesions; Overall Response (OR) = CR + PR.	Up to 6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Induction of Systemic Plasma Levels of Interferon-gamma	Explores graphically how changes in this marker differ between those with versus without an objective response to therapy as well as other potential factors.	Baseline up to day 50
Number of Confirmed Clinical Responses (Phase I)	Summarized by simple descriptive summary statistics. Per Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors Criteria (RECIST v1.0) for target lesions and assessed by MRI: Complete Response (CR), Disappearance of all target lesions; Partial Response (PR), >=30% decrease in the sum of the longest diameter of target lesions; Overall Response (OR) = CR + PR.	Up to 6 months
Overall Survival (Phase II)	The Kaplan-Meier method will be used to estimate overall survival distribution.	From the date of registration to date of death, assessed up to 1 year
Proportion of Patients Who Are Progression-free (Phase I)	Summarized by simple descriptive summary statistics. Per Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors Criteria (RECIST v1.0) for target lesions and assessed by MRI: Complete Response (CR), Disappearance of all target lesions; Partial Response (PR), >=30% decrease in the sum of the longest diameter of target lesions; Overall Response (OR) = CR + PR.	6 months
Time to Disease Progression (Phase II)	The Kaplan-Meier method will be used to estimate time to progression distributions.	From date of registration to date of progression, assessed up to 1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: William E Carson, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 26, 2011
• Primary Completion (Actual): September 29, 2015
• Study Completion (Estimated): March 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 8, 2011
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 8, 2011
• First Posted (Estimated): November 10, 2011

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 29, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 9, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Carcinoma; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck; Peptides; Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins; Proteins; Biological Factors; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Antibodies; Immunoglobulins; Immunoproteins; Blood Proteins; Serum Globulins; Globulins; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; Cytokines; Interleukins; Cetuximab; Interleukin-12; (225)Ac-DOTA-c(RGDyK); Interleukin-12 Subunit p35
• Other Study ID Numbers: NCI-2011-03631 (Registry Identifier: CTRP (Clinical Trial Reporting Program)); P30CA016058 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); N01CM00070 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); UM1CA186712 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); U01CA076576 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); 2011C0019; 11010 (DAIDS ES Registry Number); CDR0000715306; 8860 (Other Identifier: CTEP)