Testing What Happens When an Immunotherapy Drug (Pembrolizumab) is Given by Itself Compared to the Usual Treatment of Chemotherapy with Radiation after Surgery for Recurrent Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Active:	Yes
Cancer Type:	Head and Neck Cancer Unknown Primary	NCT ID:	NCT04671667
Trial Phases:	Phase II	Protocol IDs:	EA3191 (primary) EA3191 NCI-2020-13174
Eligibility:	18 - 79 Years, Male and Female	Study Type:	Treatment
Study Sponsor:	ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group
NCI Full Details:	http://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT04671667

Summary

This phase II trial studies the effect of pembrolizumab alone compared to the usual approach (chemotherapy [cisplatin and carboplatin] plus radiation therapy) after surgery in treating patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that has come back (recurrent) or patients with a second head and neck cancer that is not from metastasis (primary). Radiation therapy uses high energy radiation or protons to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Cisplatin is in a class of medications known as platinum-containing compounds. It works by killing, stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells. Carboplatin is also in a class of medications known as platinum-containing compounds. It works in a way similar to the anticancer drug cisplatin, but may be better tolerated than cisplatin. Carboplatin works by killing, stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving pembrolizumab alone after surgery may work better than the usual approach in shrinking recurrent or primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Objectives

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE:
I. To evaluate overall survival (OS) of adjuvant pembrolizumab for 12 months compared to adjuvant reirradiation plus concurrent platinum chemotherapy in high risk head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:
I. To evaluate the following endpoints in both arms: disease free survival (DFS), locoregional control, rates of distant metastasis, toxicity.
II. To evaluate whether high PD-L1 expression (defined as Combined Positive Score [CPS] >= 20) is predictive of increased efficacy in the experimental group compared to control.

OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 arms.

ARM B: Patients receive cisplatin or carboplatin intravenously (IV) on day 1. Treatment repeats every 7 days for 6 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Patients also undergo intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) or proton beam radiation therapy (PBRT) once daily (QD) for a total of 30 fractions in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

ARM C: Patients receive pembrolizumab IV over 30 minutes on day 1. Treatment repeats every 6 weeks for 9 cycles in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

Patients in all arms undergo computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) throughout the trial.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up at 30 days, and then every 6 months for up to 5 years from the date of registration.

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