Pembrolizumab + Radiation for Locally Adv SCC of the Head and Neck (SCCHN) Not Eligible Cisplatin

Pembrolizumab and Radiation for Locally Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck (SCCHN) Not Eligible for Cisplatin Therapy

This study is being done to evaluate the efficacy of Pembrolizumab, concomitant with and following standard of care definitive radiation, for locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck patients who are not good candidates for Cisplatin.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Head and Neck Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Pembrolizumab; Radiation: Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy

Detailed Description

This open label, phase II trial will enroll 29 subjects in order to evaluate the efficacy of Pembrolizumab, concomitant with and following standard of care definitive radiation for locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma head and neck patients who are not good candidates for Cisplatin. Objectives include estimating progression free survival and overall survival, response rates, safety and toxicity, and quality of life in these patients. Correlative studies, based on serial blood collections and tumor samples, may be done under a separate protocol based on availability of archival diagnostic tissue.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 29
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Maryland
    • Baltimore, Maryland, United States, 21231
      • John Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • North Carolina
    • Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, 27599
      • UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Pennsylvania
    • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19111
      • Fox Chase Cancer Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 99 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Be willing and able to provide written informed consent/assent for the trial
• Be greater than or equal to 18 years of age
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Performance Status less than or equal to 1
• Histologically or cytologically confirmed stage III-IV (non-metastatic) squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck as defined by American Joint Committee on Cancer. Nasopharyngeal cancer patients will be excluded.
• Ineligible for high dose cisplatin therapy; the reason for ineligibility must be defined.
• Demonstrate adequate organ function. All screening labs should be performed within 14 days of treatment initiation.
• No prior curative attempts for this cancer (i.e., surgery, radiation and/or other).
• Female patients of childbearing potential should have a negative urine or serum pregnancy within 72 hours prior to receiving the first dose of study medication. Serum pregnancy test may be required.
• Female patients of childbearing potential should be willing to use 2 methods of birth control or be surgically sterile, or abstain from heterosexual activity for the course of the study through 120 days after the last dose of study medication.
• Male patients should agree to use an adequate method of contraception starting with the first dose of study therapy through 120 days after the last dose of study therapy.
• As determined by the enrolling physician or protocol designee, ability of the patient to understand and comply with study procedures for the entire length of the study.
• Consent for the use of any residual material from biopsy (archival tissue) and serial blood draws will be required for enrollment.

Exclusion Criteria:

• If currently participating in or has participated in a study of an investigational agent or using an investigational device within 4 weeks of the first dose of treatment.
• Has a diagnosis of immunodeficiency or is receiving systemic steroid therapy or any other form of immunosuppressive therapy within 7 days prior to the first dose of trial treatment.
• Has had a prior monoclonal antibody within 4 weeks prior to study Day 1 or who has not recovered from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier
• Had prior chemotherapy, targeted small molecule therapy, or radiation therapy within 2 weeks prior to study Day 1 or who has not recovered from adverse events due to a previously administered agent.
• Has a known additional malignancy that is metastatic, progressing or requires active treatment.
• Has an active autoimmune disease requiring systemic treatment within the past 3 months or a documented history of clinically severe autoimmune disease even if resolved; patients with vitiligo or resolved childhood asthma/atopy would be an exception to this rule.
• Has clinical or radiologic evidence of interstitial lung disease or active, non-infectious pneumonitis
• Has an active infection requiring systemic therapy.
• Has a history or current evidence of any condition, therapy, or laboratory abnormality that might confound the results of the trial, interfere with the patient's participation for the full duration of the trial, or is not in the best interest of the patient to participate, in the opinion of the treating investigator.
• Has known psychiatric or substance abuse disorders that would interfere with cooperation with the requirements of the trial.
• Has inadequate home environment or social support to safely complete the trial procedures.
• Is pregnant or breastfeeding, or expecting to conceive or father children within the projected duration of the trial, starting with the pre-screening or screening visit through 120 days after the last dose of trial treatment.
• Has received prior therapy with an anti-programmed cell death (PD-1), anti-PD-L1, anti-PD-L1, anti-CD137, or anti-Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) antibody.
• Has a known history of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) HIV 1/2 antibodies) Has known active Hepatitis B (e.g., HBsAg reactive) or Hepatitis C )e.g., HCV RNA [qualitative] is detected).
• Has received a live vaccine within 30 days prior to the first dose of trial treatment.
• Has a history of (non-infectious) pneumonitis that required steroids or current pneumonitis

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Open label; Pembrolizumab	Drug: Pembrolizumab; Pembrolizumab, 200 mg IV during cycle visits every 3-weeks for up to 6 cycles, or until toxicities are no longer tolerable; Other Names: Keytruda
Other: Radiation; Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT)	Radiation: Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy; Eligible participants will receive Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy daily x 7 weeks; Other Names: IMRT

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
20 Week Progression Free Survival Rate	the proportion of patients who are alive and free of progression from disease at 20 weeks from the start of treatment	20 weeks after D1 of treatment
One Year Progression Free Survival Rate	the proportion of patients who are alive and free of progression from disease atoneyears from the start of treatment	1 years after D1 of treatment
Two Year Progression Free Survival Rate	the proportion of patients who are alive and free of progression from disease at two years from the start of treatment	2 years after D1 of treatment
Median Progression Free Survival	Progression-free survival is defined as the time from D1 of treatment to progression or death from any cause. The median was not reached, thus Kaplan Meier's estimated rate at 5 years is reported.	up to 5 years after D1 of treatment

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
One Year Overall Survival Rate	the proportion of patients who are alive at one year after Day 1 of treatment	1 year after Day 1 of treatment
Two Year Overall Survival Rate	the proportion of patients who are alive at two years after Day 1 of treatment	2 years after Day 1 of treatment
Proportion of Participants Who Received <95% of Intended Dose of Radiation	Evaluate the safety of the proposed regimen by Estimating the proportion of patients who receive <95% of the intended dose of radiation (i.e., <67 Gray)	7 weeks
Number of Participants With Clinically Relevant Adverse Events	Safety was assessed by documenting clinically relevant adverse events, defined as events reported by both the clinician and participant related to concurrent radiation plus pembrolizumab. Clinicians classified and graded according to the National Cancer Institute's Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE, version 4.0). The grading (severity) scale for each AE term: Grade (G) 1 Mild; asymptomatic/mild symptoms; clinical/diagnostic observations only; G 2 Moderate; G 3 Severe or medically significant but not immediately life-threatening; hospitalization/prolongation of hospitalization indicated; disabling; G 4 Life-threatening consequences; urgent intervention indicated. Grade 5 Death related to AE. Patient assessed toxicity were classified based on the Patient-Reported Outcome version of the CTCAE (PRO-CTCAE) which measures the severity, interference, and frequency of events on a 5 point likert scale (0-4) with a higher score indicating worse or more bothersome event	Monitored continuously from D1 of treatment through 40 weeks.
Overall Response Rate	Overall response rate will be determined per Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors Criteria (RECIST v1.1) which defines Complete Response (CR) as Disappearance of all target lesions; Partial Response (PR), >=30% decrease in the sum of the longest diameter of target lesions; and Overall Response Rate (ORR) = CR + PR/total number of subjects.	2 years after start of treatment
Complete Response Rate	complete response rate will be determined using RECIST 1.1 and is defined as the percentage of participants who achieve a Complete response (CR)-Disappearance of all target lesions. Any pathological lymph node (LN) (whether target or non-target) must have decreased in short axis to <10mm.	2 years after start of treatment
Quality of Life Measured by Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Head and Neck (FACT-HN)	The FACT-HN is the FACT-General (FACT-G) and a head and neck cancer specific (HNC) subscale given at baseline, at end of treatment, and at first follow-up visit. The FACT-G is a measure of general QOL with Items rated by patients on a Likert scale from 0 to 4, assessing function in 4 domains: physical well-being (PWB) (7 items, score range 0-28), social-family well-being (SFWB) (7 items, score range 0-28), emotional well-being (EWB) (6 items, score range 0-24) and functional well-being (FWB) (7 items, score range 0-28). The HNC subscale has 12 items and a score range from 0 to 48. Higher scores represent better QOL.	At baseline, 10 and 20 weeks after initiation of treatment
Five Years Locoregional Recurrence Rate	Time to locoregional recurrence is defined from Day 1 of treatment until the first locoregional progression	5 years from start of treatment
Five Years Distant Metastasis Rate	Time to distant metastasis is defined as the time from day 1 of treatment to progression of disease at a distant site; deaths or other progressions will be censored	5 years from start of treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Collaborators: Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jared Weiss, MD, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Weiss J, Sheth S, Deal AM, Grilley Olson JE, Patel S, Hackman TG, Blumberg JM, Galloway TJ, Patel S, Zanation AM, Shen CJ, Hayes DN, Hilliard C, Mehra R, McKinnon KP, Wang HH, Weissler MC, Bauman JR, Chera BS, Vincent BG. Concurrent Definitive Immunoradiotherapy for Patients with Stage III-IV Head and Neck Cancer and Cisplatin Contraindication. Clin Cancer Res. 2020 Aug 15;26(16):4260-4267. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-20-0230. Epub 2020 May 5.

Helpful Links

• UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 16, 2016
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 23, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): November 20, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 12, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 18, 2015
• First Posted (Estimated): November 20, 2015

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 5, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 10, 2024
• Last Verified: October 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors; Antineoplastic Agents; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Pembrolizumab
• Other Study ID Numbers: LCCC1509