Neoadjuvant Tislelizumab With Afatinib for Resectable Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

NCT05517330 | Completed Phase 2

• 1 other identifier: ChiECRCT20210619
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 23
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to explore the efficiency and safety of anti-Programmed death-1 (PD-1) immunotherapy, tislelizumab, combined with EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI), afatinib as a new neoadjuvant treatment regimen for patients with resectable head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Conditions

Head and Neck Cancer

Keywords

Head and Neck Cancer; Neoadjuvant therapy; Immunotherapy; EGFR-TKI

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Major Pathologic Response

  Major Pathologic Response (MPR) was defined as fewer than 10% viable tumor cells.

  Time of surgery

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Pathologic Complete Response

  Time of surgery

• Objective Response Rate

  Up to 8 weeks

• Adverse events

  Up to 12 weeks

• Disease-free Survival

  1 year

Study Arms (1)

Treatment Cohort

EXPERIMENTAL

* Tislelizumab administration on days 1 and 22, and afatinib continuous administration from days 1 to 42 * Standard of care surgery

Biological: Tislelizumab; Drug: Afatinib

Interventions

Tislelizumab BIOLOGICAL

200mg IV Q3W

Also known as: BGB-A317

Treatment Cohort

Afatinib DRUG

30mg PO QD

Treatment Cohort

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Age 18 years or above.
• Patients with pathologically confirmed HNSCC (except for nasopharyngeal carcinoma) and meet the following conditions:
• were newly diagnosed and without distant metastasis;
• were deemed surgically resectable evaluated by a head and neck surgeon;
• were willing to undergo surgery.
• Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status 0-1.
• Adequate organ and bone marrow function:
• absolute neutrophil count ≥ 1.5 × 10\^9/L, hemoglobin ≥ 80 g/L, platelets ≥ 80 × 10\^9/L;
• ALT, AST and ALP \< 2.5× upper limit of normal (ULN), total bilirubin ≤ 2×ULN; albumin≥ 2.8 g/dL；
• creatinine clearance ≥ 60 ml/min；
• INR≤ 1.5, APTT≤ 1.5×ULN.
• Written informed consent.

You may not qualify if:

• History of other malignancies (except for the history of malignant tumors that have been cured and have not recurred within 5 years, such as skin basal cell carcinoma, skin squamous cell carcinoma, superficial bladder cancer, in situ cervical cancer, and gastrointestinal mucosal cancer, etc.）
• Have an active autoimmune disease requiring systemic treatment or a documented history of clinically severe autoimmune disease.
• Any history of allergic disease, or a sever hypersensitivity reaction to drugs, or allergy to the study drug components.
• Any of prior therapy with:
• anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1/2, anti-CTLA-4 antibody, anti-EGFR antibody or EGFR-TKIs；
• antitumor vaccine;
• any active vaccine against an infectious disease within 4 weeks prior to the first dose or planned during the study period;
• major surgery or serious trauma within 4 weeks before the first dose;
• With serious medical diseases, such as grade II and above cardiac dysfunction (NYHA criteria), ischemic heart disease, supraventricular or ventricular arrhythmia, poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, poorly controlled hypertension, echocardiographic ejection fraction \< 50%, etc.
• With interstitial pneumonitis, non-infectious pneumonitis, active pulmonary tuberculosis, or history of pulmonary tuberculosis infection that were not controlled by treatment.
• With hyperthyroidism, or organic thyroid disease.
• With active infection, or unexplained fever during the screening period or 48 hours before the first dose.
• With active hepatitis B or C, or known history of positive HIV test, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.
• History of a clear neurological or psychiatric disorder.
• History of drug abuse or alcohol abuse.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• West China Hospital: lead

Study Sites (1)

Xingchen Peng

Chengdu, Sichuan, 610041, China

Location

Related Publications (14)

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MeSH Terms

Conditions

Head and Neck Neoplasms

Interventions

tislelizumab; Afatinib

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neoplasms by Site; Neoplasms

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Amides; Organic Chemicals; Quinazolines; Heterocyclic Compounds, 2-Ring; Heterocyclic Compounds, Fused-Ring; Heterocyclic Compounds

Study Officials

• Xingchen Peng, Professor

  West China Hospital

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: phase 2
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 19, 2022
• First Posted: August 26, 2022
• Study Start: September 19, 2022
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2023
• Study Completion: July 31, 2024
• Last Updated: July 31, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CN (1)