The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if the drug Toripalimab can prime the tumor to optimize response to Paclitaxel in HNSCC patients with a decrease performance status in a way that make both drugs well tolerated and improve partial or complete response rate over each treatment. The main questions it aims to answer are: * What is the response rate of the cancer to paclitaxel after priming with toripalimab * What is the time to progression if we continue to cycle between toripalimab and paclitaxel * What is the impact on the patient's quality of life and overall survival
Toripalimab treatment will be administered on an outpatient basis. Toripalimab will be given in the clinic on Day 1. Intravenous (IV) infusions will be given every three weeks thereafter for the first seven weeks of the study. Administration follows standard of care. Paclitaxel treatment will be administered on an outpatient basis as per standard of care once weekly for a total of eight weeks during Weeks 8-15 of each cycle. Premedication and administration follow standard of care. After eight weeks of chemotherapy, the participant finishes the cycle with two weeks of rest (no treatment). This will be repeated for a total of 51 weeks total of 3 cycles (each cycle is 17 weeks) We will study sequential ICI and CT on HNSCC, and the impact on quality of life in addition to studying the tumor microenvironment. Participants undergo an optional biopsy before and after eight weeks of weekly paclitaxel. To explore the cytotoxic signature, we will calculate the enrichment scores for canonical cytotoxic markers (GZMA, GZMB, GZMK, GNLY, IFNG, PRF1 and NKG7). To estimate the signature of collagen formation, we will calculate enrichment scores using the gene lists from the REACTOME\_COLLAGEN\_FORMATION pathway (msigdb.v7.5.1.symbols.gmt; https://www.gsea-msigdb.org/gsea/index.jsp). To explore the cell type contexts, we will perform principal component analysis (PCA) and then uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP) using the RunPCA and RunUMAP functions based on the cell type proportion inferred by spatial transcriptomics deconvolution (STRIDE). Results will be summarized using descriptive statistics, including mean, median, standard deviation, range, count, and percentage, as appropriate.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
NA
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
22
Toripalimab 240mg intravenously every three weeks on weeks 1, 4 and 7 of a 17 week cycle.
Paclitaxel 80mg/m2 intravenously over weekly for 8 weeks on weeks 8-15 of each cycle times 3 cycles
Karmanos Cancer Institute
Detroit, Michigan, United States
Objective Response Rate (ORR)
The ORR is calculated as the proportion of participants with complete response (CR) or partial response (PR) per RECIST v1.1 among all treated participants. CR is the disappearance of all lesions; PR is at least a 30% decrease in the sum of diameters of target lesions. The two-sided 95% confidence interval (CI) for ORR will be estimated using Clopper-Pearson's method.
Time frame: Up to 1 year after treatment initiation
Overall Survival (OS)
The OS is the length of time from the start of treatment that participants are still alive. The distribution of OS will be graphically summarized using a Kaplan-Meier (KM) curve with corresponding median and two-sided 95% CIs computed using KM estimates.
Time frame: Up to 2 years after treatment initiation
Progression Free Survival (PFS)
PFS is defined as the time duration from treatment start to progression or death from any cause, whichever occurs first. Progressive disease (PD) is defined as at least a 20% increase in the sum of diameters of target lesions. The distribution of PFS will be graphically summarized using a KM curve with corresponding median and two-sided 95% CIs computed using KM estimates.
Time frame: Up to 1 year after treatment initiation
Duration of Response (DOR)
DOR is the length of time that a tumor continues to respond to treatment without the cancer growing or spreading. The distribution of DOR will be graphically summarized using a KM curve with corresponding median and two-sided 95% CIs computed using KM estimates.
Time frame: Up to 2 years after treatment initiation
Impact on Quality of Life (QOL)
QOL will be measured using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy for Head \& Neck cancer (FACT-H\&N). The distribution of QOL will be assessed, and if necessary, a data transformation will be applied to meet normality assumptions. Longitudinal QOL will be summarized using the mean, median, standard deviation (SD), range, and 95% CI across all time points. Minimally important differences (MID) in FACT scores will be determined; for FACT-General the MID is 3 to 7 and for all the subscales the MID is 2 to 3.
Time frame: Up to 1 year after treatment initiation
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