Need Help?

Genomic Analyses in Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy-Treated Head and Neck Cancers

This is a phase 2 multicenter interventional trial involving the preoperative (neoadjuvant) administration of pembrolizumab, an anti-programmed cell death protein-1 (anti-PD-1) agent, to patients with pathologically confirmed, surgically resectable advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Participating centers were Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, Alvin J. Siteman Cancer Center, Washington University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The trial (NCT02296684) consisted of two cohorts: Cohort 1 enrolled and treated patients received one dose of pembrolizumab prior to surgical resection with curative intent, and adjuvant pembrolizumab was planned for patients with high risk pathological features (positive margins and/or extranodal extension) in the surgical specimen. Cohort 2 enrolled and treated patients received 2 doses of pembrolizumab prior to surgical resection with curative intent. Adjuvant treatment was not dictated by the trial protocol for Cohort 2. The primary endpoint was rate of at least 50% pathological tumor response (pTR), defined as the presence of tumor necrosis/keratinous debris in the tumor bed following neoadjuvant pembrolizumab. pTR was graded as follows: pTR0 (<10%), pTR1 (10-49%) and pTR2 (≥50%).

Baseline, pre-treatment tumor biopsy and post-neoadjuvant pembrolizumab surgically resected tumor specimens were dissociated, and CD3+CD45+ cells were analyzed for T cell receptor (TCR) expression and 5' gene expression analysis using single cell sequencing technologies for a subset of patients.