Researchers perform a subgroup analysis study demonstrating positive results in patients with HPV-negative oropharyngeal cancers due to the addition of nimotuzumab while receiving cisplatin and radiation treatment.
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Oral cancer in any part of the oropharynx (the back-third of the tongue, tonsils, soft palate, and back and sides of the throat) is called oropharyngeal cancer. Each year, oral cancer accounts for around 53,000 new patient diagnoses in the United States. However, the highest number of cases of oral cancer in the world are found in India, and this number is increasing.
“As opposed to HPV related oropharyngeal cancer, HPV negative oropharyngeal cancers have worse prognosis.”
Researchers from Tata Memorial Hospital and Tata Memorial Centre in Mumbai, India, previously reported that in a phase three randomized study of an epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor medication and, called cetuximab, showed a trend towards improvement when used in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancers. Compared with results in other similar studies, they believe their results were likely due to a younger cohort of patients with predominantly HPV negative diseases.
“Taking this into consideration, we decided to perform a subgroup analysis of the HPV negative oropharyngeal cancer cohort, to study the absolute improvement in 2-year outcomes with the addition of nimotuzumab. We compared 2 year progression free survival (PFS), disease free survival (DFS), locoregional control (LRC) and overall survival (OS) between both arms.”
The Study
“HPV negative oropharyngeal cancer has unsatisfactory treatment outcomes and is a candidate for escalation of treatment. We wanted to determine whether the addition of nimotuzumab to cisplatin-radiation could improve outcomes in these poor-risk tumors.”
In this study, the researchers gathered 536 patients undergoing definitive chemoradiation for locally advanced head and neck cancers, with 269 having a primary tumor located in the oropharynx. Of these patients, 187 were p16 protein negative and were divided into two treatment arms: 91 in the cisplatin-radiotherapy (CRT) treatment arm and 97 in the nimotuzumab-cisplatin-radiotherapy (NCRT) treatment arm. Nimotuzumab is an antibody that binds to epidermal growth factor receptor IgG1 and a radiosensitizer.
The cohort consisted of only 21 females, therefore the participants were primarily male, with a median age of 54.5, 90% reported tobacco use, and 80% were in disease stage IV. Patients in the CRT treatment arm were given 30mg/m2 of cisplatin weekly, in addition to radiation therapy. In the NCRT treatment arm, in addition to radiation therapy, patients received 200 mg of nimotuzumab and 30 mg/m2 cisplatin weekly.
Results
Researchers found that the HPV positive/negative interaction test using immunohistochemistry staining taken by each participant was a significant determinant in progression free survival, locoregional control, and overall survival, but not in disease free survival. They suggest this data shows that the addition of nimotuzumab has a differential patient impact on disease free survival with respect to HPV status.
In patients taking nimotuzumab, improvement in locoregional control was largely responsible for their improvement in progression free survival. On average, time to locoregional failure in the CRT treatment arm was 17.3 months, and in the NCRT treatment arm, it was 60.3 months. The team also found that the addition of nimotuzumab led to an 18.6% improvement in 2-year overall survival, jumping from 39.0% to 57.6%.
“Locoregional control, progression-free survival and overall survival were improved with the addition of nimotuzumab to cisplatin and radiation.”
Conclusion
“The addition of nimotuzumab to weekly cisplatin-radiation improves outcomes inclusive of OS in HPV negative oropharyngeal cancers.”
“The results of the current study clarify the importance of treatment intensification in HPV negative oropharyngeal cancers.”
Click here to read the full scientific study, published in Oncotarget.
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