Testing the Addition of Anti-Cancer Drug, Cetuximab, to Standard of Care Treatment (Pembrolizumab) for Returning or Spreading Head and Neck Cancer After Previous Treatment

Study Summary

This phase III trial compares the effect of adding cetuximab to pembrolizumab versus pembrolizumab alone in treating patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) that has come back after a period of improvement (recurrent) and/or that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic). Cetuximab is in a class of medications called monoclonal antibodies. It binds to a protein called EGFR, which is found on some types of tumor cells. This may help keep tumor cells from growing. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the tumor, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving cetuximab and pembrolizumab together may be more effective at treating patients with recurrent and/or metastatic HNSCC than pembrolizumab alone.

Primary Outcome

Will be estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Will be based on the stratified log-rank test that will compare the distributions across the treatment arms. Univariable and multivariable Cox models stratified by the stratification factors used in the randomization will be assessed as well, where the multivariable Cox model will also adjust for other key baseline factors of interest. Hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals, along with likelihood ratio p-values will be reported from these Cox

Conditions Studied

Interventions

• BIOLOGICAL Pembrolizumab
• PROCEDURE Biospecimen Collection
• PROCEDURE Computed Tomography
• PROCEDURE Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• BIOLOGICAL Cetuximab

Study Locations (20)