This is a multi-center, single arm, open-label, multi-agent, localized pharmacodynamic biomarker Phase 0 trial designed to study the biological effects within the tumor microenvironment of motolimod and motolimod combined with nivolumab when administered intratumorally in microdose quantities via the CIVO device in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). CIVO stands for comparative in vivo oncology.
CIVO is a research tool composed of a hand-held single-use sterile injector coupled with fluorescent tracking microspheres called CIVO GLO that mark the sites of drug microdose injection, enabling rapid assessment of multiple oncology drugs or drug combinations simultaneously within a patient's tumor. In this Phase 0 intratumoral microdosing study in human patients with pathologic diagnosis of HNSCC with at least one lesion (primary, recurrent, or effaced metastatic lymph nodes) for which there is a planned surgical intervention, we will evaluate motolimod's ability to activate immune effector cells within the local tumor microenvironment. Additionally, this study will examine motolimod in combination with nivolumab to study whether motolimod enhances the localized immune responses compared to those of either immunotherapy alone. Motolimod singly and in combination with nivolumab will be delivered intratumorally in subtherapeutic microdose quantities via CIVO. The CIVO device penetrates solid tumors and delivers subtherapeutic microdoses of up to eight anti-cancer agents or combinations of anti-cancer agents co-injected with CIVO GLO into discrete regions of the tumor. At the time of the planned surgical intervention (at least four hours to up to four days after the CIVO microdose injection), the injected tumor tissue is then excised and tumor responses are assessed via histological staining of tumor cross-sections sampled perpendicular to each injection column. Co-injection with CIVO GLO enables identification of each injection site during resection as well as in tissues stained for analysis. Because the platform delivers microdose amounts of each test agent or combination directly into the patient's tumor tissue, hypotheses can be tested earlier in the drug development process, consistent with the goals of the 2006 FDA Exploratory IND Guidance for Industry.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
1
Intratumoral microdose injection by the CIVO device.
Intratumoral microdose injection by the CIVO device.
Intratumoral microdose injection by the CIVO device.
University of California, San Francisco
San Francisco, California, United States
University of Illinois at Chicago
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Wake Forest Baptist Health
Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States
Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)
Portland, Oregon, United States
Quantification of Cell Death and Immune Cell Biomarkers by Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and In-Situ Hybridization (ISH) in Resected Tissue
Quantification of biomarker-positive and biomarker-negative cells will be performed within the tumor microenvironment around each of the injection sites of each resected patient sample by IHC and ISH. An aggregate analysis of this quantification may be done across patient samples to evaluate trends in tumor response. List of biomarkers evaluated may include biomarkers for cell death (e.g. cleaved caspase 3), T-cells (e.g. CD3, CD8/Granzyme B), and natural killer (NK)/myeloid cells (e.g. CD56/Granzyme B, CD86, CD68, CD163).
Time frame: 4 hours-4 days after microdose injection
Number of Patients with Adverse Events
Relationship of AE to study drug or CIVO device will be determined using an AE Relatedness Grading System.
Time frame: Up to 28 days after microdose injection
This platform is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional.
Portland VA
Portland, Oregon, United States