The study is a pilot study to explore the feasibility and efficacy of immunotherapy following salvage surgery for recurrent head and neck cancer.
Approximately 30-40% of patients treated with a curative intent for locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck cancer will experience an isolated loco-regional recurrence or a second primary tumor in the previously radiated tissues1-5. Patients with recurrent head and neck cancer frequently recur locally and are still amenable for curative interventions. The current recommendations for treatment of these recurrent and second primary tumors includes surgical resection whenever possible as this has been shown to have a significantly better outcome as compared to patients treated non-surgically with radiation therapy with or without concurrent chemotherapy. Immunotherapy is expected to be more effective with smaller amounts of disease and application of therapy when disease burden is minimal is expected to yield improved outcomes. Many trials underway at the present time explore the use of immunotherapy in earlier stages of head and neck cancer than the ones already studied. However, patients undergoing salvage therapy are understudied and no major cooperative group or industry trial is addressing this group of patients.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
10
Patients will receive 17 cycles of pembrolizumab via IV infusion of 200 mg over a period of 30 minutes, every 3 weeks starting no later than 90 days from the date of salvage head and neck therapy.
Henry Ford Health System
Detroit, Michigan, United States
Rate of recurrence at 1 year, will be measured by RECIST 1.1 as the primary measure for assessment of tumor, date of disease progression, and as a basis for all protocol guidelines related to disease status (e.g., discontinuation of study treatment).
Primary objective
Time frame: 1 year
Determine the feasibility of immunotherapy for head and neck cancer following salvage surgery to produce preliminary data for 15 patients regarding efficacy. All side effects and symptoms will be assessed by CTCAE v5.0.
Study endpoint
Time frame: 1 year
Rate of completion of all planned therapy. All drug related toxicities will be graded by CTCAE v5.0.
Study endpoint
Time frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year
Toxicity rates measured by laboratory assessments and all adverse events and serious adverse events will be assessed by CTCAE v5.0.
Study endpoint
Time frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year
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