Concurrent Definitive Immunoradiotherapy for Patients with Stage III-IV Head and Neck Cancer and Cisplatin Contraindication.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Although cisplatin plus radiotherapy is a standard treatment of locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (LA-HNSCC), cisplatin contraindication is common. Radiation elicits and promotes tumor-directed immune stimulation, which may potentiate anti-PD-1 therapy. We provide the first efficacy report of combined pembrolizumab and definitive radiotherapy in LA-HNSCC.

Patients and methods

This single-arm, multi-institution, phase II study (NCT02609503) enrolled 29 cisplatin-ineligible patients. Patients received radiotherapy concurrently with three cycles of pembrolizumab 200 mg every 3 weeks followed by three adjuvant cycles. The primary endpoint was a progression-free survival (PFS) of ≥16 months. Correlative studies included peripheral blood flow cytometry

SUBMITTER: Weiss J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7968114 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature