Experimental drug combo targets Hard-to-Treat head and neck cancer
NCT ID NCT07686588
First seen Jul 07, 2026 · Last updated Jul 08, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This phase 2 trial tests a combination of two drugs—sacituzumab tirumotecan and an immune checkpoint inhibitor—in people with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that has progressed after standard therapy. The goal is to see if the combination can shrink tumors and control the disease. About 20 participants will receive the drugs by infusion every two weeks.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Sacituzumab tirumotecan plus an immune checkpoint inhibitor
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this combination could offer a new treatment option for people with head and neck cancer that has not responded to standard therapies.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early-phase trial with only 20 participants, so results may not apply to everyone. The drug combination may cause side effects or fail to shrink tumors.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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About 20 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Jul 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2028
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 80 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Male or female patients aged ≥18 years and \<80 years at the time of signing the informed consent form. 2. Histologically or cytologically confirmed recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, including locally recurrent disease not amenable to curative local therapy and distant metastatic disease. 3. Recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma after failure of prior standard therapy containing an immune checkpoint inhibitor. Treatment failure is defined as discontinuation of the current treatment due to disease progression. For patients with recurrent or metastatic disease, disease progression (PD) confirmed during systemic therapy or at the first tumor response assessment after completion of therapy will be considered treatment failure. Dose adjustment, treatment switching, or treatment discontinuation due to drug intolerance, treatment-related toxicity, patient preference, financial reasons, or other non-progression-related reasons will not be considered treatment failure. 4. At least one measurable lesion according to RECIST v1.1. 5. Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0 or 1. 6. No clinically significant contraindication to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy as judged by the investigator. 7. Adequate major organ function, meeting the following criteria: * Hematology: white blood cell count (WBC) ≥4.0 × 10\^9/L, absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥1.5 × 10\^9/L, platelet count (PLT) ≥100 × 10\^9/L, and hemoglobin (Hb) ≥90 g/L, without blood transfusion or blood products and without granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) or other hematopoietic growth factors within 14 days before assessment. * Serum chemistry: serum albumin ≥3.0 g/dL (30 g/L), total bilirubin (TBIL) ≤1.5 × upper limit of normal (ULN), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) ≤2.5 × ULN, and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (Cr) ≤1.5 × ULN, or creatinine clearance ≥60 mL/min calculated using the Cockcroft-Gault formula. * Coagulation: adequate coagulation function, defined as international normalized ratio (INR) or prothrombin time (PT) ≤1.5 × ULN. For patients receiving anticoagulant therapy, PT must be within the intended therapeutic range for the anticoagulant. 8. Female patients of childbearing potential must have a negative serum or urine pregnancy test within 7 days before enrollment and agree to use effective contraception during the study and for 6 months after the last dose of study treatment. Male patients with partners of childbearing potential must agree to use effective contraception during the study and for 6 months after the last dose of study treatment. 9. Able to understand and voluntarily sign the informed consent form, and willing to comply with study procedures and follow-up. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Participation in another interventional drug clinical trial within 4 weeks before enrollment. 2. Prior treatment with a TROP2-targeted therapy and/or a topoisomerase I inhibitor. 3. Prior intolerance to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, defined as permanent discontinuation of prior immunotherapy due to a grade ≥3 immune-related adverse event (irAE) according to CTCAE v5.0, or hypersensitivity to an immune checkpoint inhibitor, including grade ≥3 infusion-related reaction. 4. History of another malignancy within 5 years before enrollment, except for cured carcinoma in situ of the cervix, basal cell carcinoma of the skin, or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin. 5. Known history of hypersensitivity to any study drug or any of its components. 6. Positive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) test or history of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS); known active syphilis infection. 7. History of allogeneic organ transplantation or allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. 8. Receipt of a live vaccine within 30 days before the first dose of study treatment. 9. History of noninfectious interstitial lung disease (ILD) or noninfectious pneumonitis requiring steroid treatment; current ILD or noninfectious pneumonitis; or suspected ILD or noninfectious pneumonitis that cannot be excluded by imaging during screening. Patients with clinically significant pulmonary impairment due to comorbid pulmonary disease, including but not limited to pulmonary embolism within 3 months before the first dose, severe asthma, severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, restrictive lung disease, or pleural effusion, or any autoimmune, connective tissue, or inflammatory disease that may involve the lungs, such as rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren's syndrome, or sarcoidosis, or history of total pneumonectomy, are also excluded. 10. Active autoimmune disease requiring systemic treatment within the past 2 years. Hormone replacement therapy is not considered systemic treatment, including type 1 diabetes mellitus, hypothyroidism requiring only thyroid hormone replacement, or adrenal or pituitary insufficiency requiring only physiologic corticosteroid replacement. 11. Active infection requiring systemic therapy within 2 weeks before the first dose of study treatment. 12. Any serious concomitant disease that, in the investigator's judgment, may compromise patient safety or interfere with completion of the study, including but not limited to uncontrolled hypertension, severe diabetes mellitus, or active infection. 13. Documented severe dry eye syndrome, severe meibomian gland disease and/or blepharitis, or history of corneal disease that may impair or delay corneal healing. 14. Pregnant or breastfeeding women; female patients of childbearing potential with a positive pregnancy test at baseline; or female patients of childbearing potential who are unwilling to use effective contraception during study treatment and for 6 months after the last dose of study treatment. 15. Any other condition that, in the investigator's judgment, makes the patient unsuitable for participation in this study.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The official record
The full official record for this study. This one lists no contact details, but it is the first place any would appear.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
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