ERBITUX® Followed by Adjuvant Treatment With Chemoradiation and ERBITUX® for Locally Advanced Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Phase 2

Completed

Conditions: Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

Interventions: Drug: Cetuximab
Procedure: Surgery
Radiation: Post-surgical radiation
Drug: Cisplatin or carboplatin

Registration Number: NCT01218048

Lead Sponsor: Robert Ferris

Brief Summary: There are currently no useful tests to identify patients who will respond to cetuximab therapy, notably because EGFR levels do not correlate with the clinical responses observed. Thus, the investigators are investigating the role of cellular immunity and immune escape mechanisms to explain the differential clinical response to cetuximab.

Detailed Description: This prospective phase II clinical trial of preoperative, single-agent cetuximab treated patients is being conducted in order to obtain specimens before and after 4 weeks of cetuximab for immune biomarker studies. Stage III/IV HNC patients will be treated with definitive surgical resection and observed for disease recurrence. Cetuximab will be administered for a 3-4 week preoperative period to study biomarker modulation in correlation clinical response by CT scan and tumor apoptosis/proliferation after tumor excision, immediately after neoadjuvant cetuximab but before surgery. We will biopsy the skin/acneiform rash in all patients to correlate rash with biomarker modulation and clinical response. Cetuximab may also be given in the adjuvant setting. A primary scientific hypothesis will be tested: does short term pre-operative exposure to cetuximab modulate blood immune biomarkers and is immune modulation associated with anti-tumor effect? Forty (n=40) patients with complete specimens (tumor, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and serum) are necessary to enable adequate statistical power to be reached using paired specimens. A secondary set of hypotheses will evaluate the association between pre-operative biomarker levels and modulation with disease recurrence. The proposed trial will accrue stage II, III or IV surgical candidates without distant metastasis.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 40

Inclusion Criteria

Histologically or cytologically confirmed, previously untreated HNC. Clinical stage III or IVA disease without distant metastases as determined by CT, and as defined by the American Joint Committee on Cancer Staging System, Sixth edition (See Appendix I).
Primary tumors of the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx, or larynx will be included. Primary tumors of the sinuses, paranasal sinuses, or nasopharynx, or unknown primary tumors are NOT allowed.
Macroscopic complete resection of the primary tumor must be planned.
Age greater than or equal to 18 years.
ECOG performance status 0-1.
Adequate hematologic, renal and hepatic function, as defined by:
- Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) greater than or equal to 1,500/ul, platelets greater than or equal to 100,000/ul.
- Creatinine clearance > 40
- Bilirubin less than or equal to 1.5 x ULN, AST or ALT less than or equal to 2.5 x ULN.
Have signed written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria

Subjects who fail to meet the above criteria.
Prior severe infusion reaction to a monoclonal antibody.
Pregnancy or breastfeeding. Women of childbearing potential (WOCBP) must practice acceptable methods of birth control to prevent pregnancy. Prior to study enrollment, WOCBP must be advised of the importance of avoiding pregnancy during trial participation and the potential risk factors for an unintentional pregnancy. In addition, men enrolled on this study should understand the risks to any sexual partner of childbearing potential and should practice an effective method of birth control.
All WOCBP MUST have a negative pregnancy test within 7 days prior to first receiving investigational product. If the pregnancy test is positive, the patient must not receive investigational product and must not be enrolled in the study. In addition, all WOCBP should be instructed to contact the Investigator immediately if they suspect they might be pregnant (e.g., missed or late menstrual period) at any time during study participation. The Investigator must immediately notify BMS in the event of a confirmed pregnancy in a patient participating in the study.
Subjects with an ECOG performance status of 2 or worse.
Evidence of distant metastasis.
Any other malignancy active within 5 years except for non-melanoma skin cancer or carcinoma in situ of the cervix, DCIS or LCIS of the breast.
Prior history of HNC.
Prior therapy targeting the EGFR pathway.
Any unresolved chronic toxicity greater than or equal to grade 2 from previous anticancer therapy (except alopecia), according to Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events v4.0 (CTCAE).
Acute hepatitis, known HIV, or active uncontrolled infection.
History of uncontrolled cardiac disease; i.e., uncontrolled hypertension, unstable angina, myocardial infarction within prior 6 months, untreated known coronary artery disease, uncontrolled congestive heart failure, and cardiomyopathy with decreased ejection fraction.
Uncontrolled peptic or gastric ulcer disease, or gastrointestinal bleeding within prior 6 months.
Active alcohol abuse or other illness that carries a likelihood of inability to comply with study treatment and follow-up.
Treatment with a non-approved or investigational drug within 30 days prior to Day 1 of study treatment.

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Neo-Adjuvant Cetuximab	Cisplatin or carboplatin	Neo-Adjuvant Cetuximab + Surgery + Post-Surgical Radiation + Cisplatin (or Carboplatin) NOTE: Based the results of surgery if the treating physician feels patient is not a candidate for chemotherapy, radiation can be given alone or with cetuximab.
Neo-Adjuvant Cetuximab	Post-surgical radiation	Neo-Adjuvant Cetuximab + Surgery + Post-Surgical Radiation + Cisplatin (or Carboplatin) NOTE: Based the results of surgery if the treating physician feels patient is not a candidate for chemotherapy, radiation can be given alone or with cetuximab.
Neo-Adjuvant Cetuximab	Surgery	Neo-Adjuvant Cetuximab + Surgery + Post-Surgical Radiation + Cisplatin (or Carboplatin) NOTE: Based the results of surgery if the treating physician feels patient is not a candidate for chemotherapy, radiation can be given alone or with cetuximab.
Neo-Adjuvant Cetuximab	Cetuximab	Neo-Adjuvant Cetuximab + Surgery + Post-Surgical Radiation + Cisplatin (or Carboplatin) NOTE: Based the results of surgery if the treating physician feels patient is not a candidate for chemotherapy, radiation can be given alone or with cetuximab.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
NK Cell Activation	Prior to each weekly cetuximab treatment (up to 4 weeks); at the time of surgery (at 3-4 weeks after first cetuximab treatments)	Cetuximab-mediated NK cell activation (percentage of activity) measures at pre-/post-cetuximab exposure for patients in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) and in those patients that did and did not respond to treatment.
Serum Cytokines Levels	Prior to each weekly cetuximab treatment (up to 4 weeks); at the time of surgery (at 3-4 weeks after first cetuximab treatments)	Serum cytokines levels measured at pre-/post-cetuximab, exposure measured in picogram per milliliter of plasma (pg/ml)
T Cell Activation	Prior to each weekly cetuximab treatment (up to 4 weeks); at the time of surgery (at 3-4 weeks after first cetuximab treatments)	T cell activation measured at pre-/post-cetuximab exposure

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
3-year Progression-free Survival (PFS)	3 years	Percentage of participants alive at 3 years that did not experience disease progression per RECIST 1.0. Progression per RECIST 1.0 is defined as a 20% increase the in longest dimension (LD) lesion from Nadir.
Objective Response (Rate)	Up to 2 years	The percentage of participants that experienced a response to study treatment, per RECIST 1.0: Number of participant with (Complete Response (CR) + number of participants with Partial Response (PR) / Total number of participants evaluable for response.
Change in Tumor Size	Prior to each weekly cetuximab treatment (up to 4 weeks); at the time of surgery (at 3-4 weeks after first cetuximab treatments)	Largest percent change (decrease) in tumor size before and after neoadjuvant cetuximab.
Frequency of EGFR-specific T Cells (EGFR853-861 Peptide-specific Tetramer+ CD8+T Cells)	Prior to each weekly cetuximab treatment (up to 4 weeks); at the time of surgery (at 3-4 weeks after first cetuximab treatments)	Difference in frequency of circulating EGFR-specific T cells between cetuximab-treated and cetuximab-naive patients
Overall Survival (OS)	Up to 2 years	Number of patients remaining alive.
Progression-free Survival (PFS)	Up to 54 months	The length of time during and after study treatment that participants lived with disease that did not progress per RECIST 1.0. Progression per RECIST 1.0 is defined as a 20% increase the in longest dimension (LD) lesion from Nadir.