Triple-Drug cocktail aims to shrink head and neck tumors
NCT ID NCT07509099
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Sep 04, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This study tests whether adding a targeted drug (cetuximab) to standard immunotherapy (pembrolizumab or finotonlimab) and chemotherapy helps people with advanced head and neck cancer live longer without their cancer growing. About 316 adults aged 18-70 with cancer that has spread or returned will take part. The goal is to see if the triple combination works better than the usual two-drug approach.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 3
Large-scale testing in a bigger group. Usually the last step before a treatment can be approved.
- Participants
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About 316 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Sep 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Sep 2031
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 70 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. Age 18-70 years; 2. ECOG Performance Status 0 or 1; 3. Histologically confirmed diagnosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; 4. Subjects with distant metastasis or local recurrence not suitable for curative treatment; local recurrence patients must have previously received radiotherapy (postoperative or radical); 5. No prior systemic chemotherapy; subjects who have ceased chemotherapy for locally advanced disease as part of multidisciplinary treatment for more than 6 months may be enrolled; 6. At least one measurable lesion available for evaluation by enhanced CT or MRI according to RECIST 1.1; 7. Adequate organ function: 8. Estimated survival greater than 3 months; 9. Voluntary signing of informed consent form, with good compliance expected, and ability to follow up as required by the protocol. Exclusion Criteria: 1. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma; 2. Known allergic reaction against any of the components of the trial treatment; 3. a. Previous treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) (Prior receipt of ICIs is allowed if they were given as part of curative-intent neoadjuvant therapy, with more than 6 months between the last dose and disease recurrence, or as adjuvant ICI monotherapy that achieved disease control for over 6 months); b. Previous treatment with cetuximab (Prior receipt of cetuximab is allowed if they were given as part of curative-intent therapy, with more than 6 months between the last dose and disease recurrence); c.Previous treatment with chemotherapy (Prior receipt of chemotherapy is allowed if they were given as part of curative-intent neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy, with more than 6 months between the last dose and disease recurrence) The end date of the therapies mentioned above is the date of the last administration. 4. Clinically significant heart disease, including severe heart failure: NYHA heart failure class III\~IV, ischemic heart disease (e.g., myocardial infarction or angina), acute myocardial infarction or congestive heart failure or QTc interval greater than 500 ms within the last 6 months; 5. Undergoing or expected to undergo secondary or higher surgeries within three weeks prior to the first dose; 6. Autoimmune diseases requiring treatment or a history of syndromes requiring systemic use of corticosteroids or immunosuppressants, such as pituitary inflammation, pneumonia, colitis, hepatitis, nephritis, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, etc.; 7. Other serious uncontrolled concomitant diseases affecting protocol compliance or result interfere, including uncontrolled diabetes or pulmonary diseases (interstitial pneumonia, obstructive lung disease, and symptomatic bronchospasm history); 8. Known active central nervous system metastasis and/or leptomeningeal disease; Note: Subjects with previously treated brain metastases may participate provided they are stable (without evidence of progression by imaging (using the identical imaging modality for each assessment, either MRI or CT scan) for at least 4 weeks prior to the first dose of trial treatment and any neurologic symptoms have returned to baseline), have no evidence of new or enlarging brain metastases, and are not using steroids for at least 7 days prior to trial treatment. This exception does not include carcinomatous meningitis which is excluded regardless of clinical stability. 9. Hepatitis B (HBV) (HBsAg positive and HBV-DNA≥ 103 IU/ml), hepatitis C (HCV) infection (HCV antibody positive and detectable HCV-RNA); and other acquired or congenital immunodeficiency diseases, including but not limited to HIV infection; 10. Pregnant or breastfeeding women, or women planning to conceive during treatment and within 6 months after the last dose of study medication. Fertile women and sexually active men unwilling to use highly effective contraception during the study and for 6 months afterward. 11. Severe active infections; 12. Severe neurological or psychiatric history, including dementia or epilepsy; 13. Drug abuse, medical, psychological, or social conditions that may interfere with the subject's participation in the trial or the assessment of results; 14. Other reasons deemed unsuitable for enrollment by the investigator.
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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 places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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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.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center
Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
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- Can an experimental drug shrink advanced solid tumors?
- Smartphone app aims to combat malnutrition in head and neck cancer patients
- Can adding radiation boost immunotherapy against spread head and neck cancer?
- Can a Two-Pronged attack shrink Hard-to-Treat cancers?
- New hope for hard-to-treat cancers? experimental combo enters phase 2 trial