Pilot Study for Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

Induction chemotherapy is gaining momentum in the management of locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). The combination of docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-FU (TPF) was superior compared with PF in a Phase III clinical trials73,74. We have completed a Phase II clinical trial that showed that docetaxel, cisplatin, and cetuximab (TPE) is highly active and well tolerated as induction chemotherapy in SCCHN (Argiris et al. ASCO 2008; A6002). Preliminary survival results are very encouraging. 39 patients were enrolled and with median follow up 26 months the 2-year PFS was 70% and the 2-year OS 84%.The combination of chemotherapy plus cetuximab is already a standard treatment in recurrent or metastatic SCCHN47. Therefore, TPE can be used as the platform for the addition of novel agents. EGFR and VEGF are among the most important and validated molecular targets in cancer therapy. The incorporation of novel targeted therapies to chemotherapy and radiotherapy is of particular interest in head and neck cancer, and may improve efficacy without significantly increasing toxicity. A Phase III trial of carboplatin/paclitaxel/bevacizumab with or without cetuximab in advanced NSCLC has been proposed by SWOG. Bevacizumab is currently being investigated in SCCHN with promising results. A Phase II study investigating the combination of pemetrexed and bevacizumab (UPCI 05-002) as well as a Phase II trial of cetuximab and bevacizumab (UPCI 05-087) in recurrent or metastatic SCCHN are ongoing at the University of Pittsburgh with encouraging results (ASCO 2008 and ASCO 2009). In this study, 32 have been already enrolled. There was only 1 patient with grade 3 hemorrhage. The objective response rate is 20%, the median PFS 2.8 months and the median OS 8.1 months. In order to further improve the efficacy of TPE and the rate of complete responses we propose to add bevacizumab to the TPE followed by XPE regimen we developed at the University of Pittsburgh. Due to non-o