Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy, Tislelizumab With Afatinib for HNSCC (neoCHANCE-2)

Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy, Tislelizumab With Afatinib for the Treatment of Resectable Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Single-Arm Phase 2 Trial (neoCHANCE-2 Trial)

To explore the efficiency and safety of TP chemotherapy, tislelizumab, combined with afatinib as a new neoadjuvant treatment regimen for patients with resectable HNSCC.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Nab-paclitaxel; Drug: Cisplatin; Biological: Tislelizumab; Drug: Afatinib

Detailed Description

More than 60% of patients with Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) have locally advanced or metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis, with a 5-year overall survival rate of less than 60%. The clinical outcomes of those patients still need to be improved.

Neoadjuvant therapy theoretically could reduce tumor volume, increase organ retention rate, and improve clinical prognosis. However, results from several phase III clinical trials have not proved a significant survival benefit of neoadjuvant chemotherapy for patients with resectable HNSCC except for nasopharyngeal carcinoma. There is an urgent need to explore new neoadjuvant treatment options for those patients.

Immunotherapy such as PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors have shown excellent efficiency in the treatment of malignancies. Anti-PD-1 therapy is approved as the first-line treatment of recurrent/metastatic HNSCC. Neoadjuvant immunotherapy for the treatment of locally advanced and resectable HNSCC has been demonstrated to be feasible in some trials.

Afatinib, as an irreversible ErbB tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), has been used as the second-line treatment for recurrent and/or metastatic HNSCC. A previous study published in 2018 confirmed that afatinib can be administered safely before surgery.

In summary, we designed this study to explore the efficiency and safety of chemotherapy (TP regimen), anti-PD1 immunotherapy (tislelizumab), combined with EGFR-TKI (afatinib) as a new neoadjuvant treatment regimen for patients with resectable HNSCC, aiming to provide a new treatment option for those patients.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 28
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Xingchen Peng, Professor; Phone Number: +8618980606753; Email: pxx2014@scu.edu.cn

Study Locations

• China
  • Sichuan
    • Chengdu, Sichuan, China, 610041
      • Recruiting
      • West China Hospital, Sichuan University
      • Contact: XingChen Peng, Ph.D; Phone Number: +8618980606753; Email: pxx2014@163.com

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age 18 years or above.

2. Patients with pathologically confirmed HNSCC (except for nasopharyngeal carcinoma) and meet the following conditions:

   • were newly diagnosed and without distant metastasis;
   • were deemed surgically resectable evaluated by a head and neck surgeon;
   • were willing to undergo surgery.
3. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-1.

4. Adequate organ and bone marrow function:

   • absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1.5 × 10^9/L, hemoglobin ≥ 80 g/L, platelets ≥ 80 × 10^9/L;
   • ALT, AST and ALP < 2.5× upper limit of normal (ULN), total bilirubin ≤ 2×ULN;
   • albumin≥ 2.8 g/dL；
   • creatinine clearance ≥ 60 ml/min；
   • INR≤ 1.5；APTT≤ 1.5×ULN；
5. Written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. History of other malignancies (except for the history of malignant tumors that have been cured and have not recurred within 5 years, such as skin basal cell carcinoma, skin squamous cell carcinoma, superficial bladder cancer, in situ cervical cancer, and gastrointestinal mucosal cancer, etc.）
2. Have an active autoimmune disease requiring systemic treatment or a documented history of clinically severe autoimmune disease.
3. Any history of allergic disease, or a sever hypersensitivity reaction to drugs, or allergy to the study drug components.

4. Any of prior therapy with:

   • anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1/2, anti-CTLA-4 antibody, anti-EGFR antibody or EGFR-TKIs；
   • antitumor vaccine;
   • any active vaccine against an infectious disease within 4 weeks prior to the first dose or planned during the study period;
   • major surgery or serious trauma within 4 weeks before the first dose;
   • toxicity from prior antitumor therapy has not recovered to ≤ CTCAE Version 5.0 Grade 1 or the level specified by the inclusion/exclusion criteria.
5. With serious medical diseases, such as grade II and above cardiac dysfunction (NYHA criteria), ischemic heart disease, supraventricular or ventricular arrhythmia, poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, poorly controlled hypertension, echocardiographic ejection fraction < 50%, etc.
6. With interstitial pneumonitis, non-infectious pneumonitis, active pulmonary tuberculosis, or history of pulmonary tuberculosis infection that were not controlled by treatment.
7. With hyperthyroidism, or organic thyroid disease.
8. With active infection, or unexplained fever during the screening period or 48 hours before the first dose.
9. With active hepatitis B or C, or known history of positive HIV test, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
10. History of a clear neurological or psychiatric disorder.
11. History of drug abuse or alcohol abuse.
12. Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have a reproductive plan from the screening period to 3 months after the end of the study, or have sex without contraceptive measures, or are unwilling to take appropriate contraceptive measures.
13. Received any investigational drug within 4 weeks prior to the first dose, or concurrently enrolled in another clinical trial.
14. Any other factors that are not suitable for inclusion in this study judged by investigators.

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 Cohort; Participants will receive; TP chemotherapy every 3 weeks x 2 cycles (Nab-paclitaxel 260mg/m^2 IV on day1, Cisplatin 75mg/m^2 IV on days 1-3);; Tislelizumab 200mg IV every 3 weeks x 2 cycles;; Afatinib 30mg PO everyday x 6 weeks.	Drug: Nab-paclitaxel; 260mg/m^2 IV Q3W; Other Names: Abraxane; Albumin-bound paclitaxel; Drug: Cisplatin; 75mg/m^2 IV Q3W; Other Names: CDDP; Biological: Tislelizumab; 200mg IV Q3W; Other Names: BGB-A317; Drug: Afatinib; 30mg PO QD

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Major Pathologic Response	Major pathologic response was defined as fewer than 10% viable tumor cells.	Time of surgery

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pathologic Complete Response	Pathologic complete response was defined as the absence of viable tumor cells.	Time of surgery
Objective Response Rate	Objective response rate was defined as the percentage of participants with a best overall response of CR or PR using RECIST Criteria	Up to 8 weeks
Adverse Events	Adverse events included adverse events using CTCAE Criteria and unplanned surgery delays.	Up to 12 weeks
Disease-free Survival	Disease-free survival was defined as the time from the administration of the first dose to first disease progression or death.	1 year

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: West China Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Xingchen Peng, Professor, West China Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 20, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): August 19, 2023
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 19, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 19, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 23, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): August 25, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 29, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 25, 2023
• Last Verified: December 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Head and Neck Cancer; Immunotherapy; Chemotherapy; Neoadjuvant therapy; EGFR-TKI
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neoplasms by Histologic Type; Neoplasms; Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Neoplasms, Squamous Cell; Carcinoma; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Enzyme Inhibitors; Antineoplastic Agents; Tubulin Modulators; Antimitotic Agents; Mitosis Modulators; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological; Protein Kinase Inhibitors; Paclitaxel; Albumin-Bound Paclitaxel; Afatinib; Tislelizumab
• Other Study ID Numbers: ChiECRCT20210621

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No