Immunotherapy Trial Hopes to Improve Survival Rates for Head and Neck Cancer Patients

Strategic Insights -

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are studying a combination of immunotherapy drugs to help the immune system fight head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), a type of cancer with a low five-year survival rate of less than 50%. The trial, led by Charalampos Floudas, M.D., D.M.Sc., M.S., aims to test the combination of N-803 and pembrolizumab with or without PD-L1 t-haNK cells for adults with HNSCC. The trial will take place at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, with no cost for medical care received at the Clinical Center.

Key Takeaways:

  • Less than 50% of people with certain types of HNSCC survive for five years, making it a significant area of focus for researchers.
  • The trial is testing a combination of immunotherapy drugs, N-803 and pembrolizumab, with or without PD-L1 t-haNK cells to help the immune system fight HNSCC.
  • The trial will take place at the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, and there is no cost for medical care received at the Clinical Center.
  • Charalampos Floudas, M.D., D.M.Sc., M.S., is leading the trial as Associate Research Physician in the Center for Immuno-Oncology.
  • The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is a publicly funded organization working to improve the lives of cancer patients by solving important, challenging, and neglected problems in cancer research and patient care.
  • The Center for Cancer Research is NCI's internal cancer center, developing and carrying out clinical trials to create the medicines of tomorrow.

Statistics:

  • Less than 50% of people with certain types of HNSCC survive for five years.
  • The total number of participants in the trial is not specified.

Sources:

  • National Institutes of Health. (n.d.). A Phase II Sequential Window of Opportunity Trial of Pembrolizumab + N-803 Alone or in Combination With PD-L1 t-haNK Cells for Resectable Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Clinicaltrials.gov. Retrieved from https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT06161545
  • Center for Cancer Research. (n.d.). Who We Are. National Cancer Institute. Retrieved from https://ccr.cancer.gov/index.jsp