Clinical trial · Interventional
Erlotinib, Celecoxib and Reirradiation for Recurrent Head and Neck Cancer
Phase I/II Dose Escalation Trial of Induction and Concomitant Erlotinib and Celecoxib With Radiation Therapy for Treatment of Poor Prognosis Head and Neck Cancer, Including Reirradiation
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
There is no optimal treatment for patients with recurrent head and neck cancer after previous radiation. Chemotherapy alone is not curative and patients survive an average of only 6 to 10 months. Surgery is not always possible and often cannot remove every cancerous cell. On the other hand, reirradiation with chemotherapy cures approximately 25 to 30% of patients but has significant toxicity with as many as 15 to 20% suffering from life-threatening or fatal complications. Therefore, less toxic and more effective reirradiation regimens are urgently needed. There are extensive data from animal studies and preliminary human studies showing that blocking epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and COX-2 enhances radiation effect and is more effective than either treatment alone. Erlotinib is a FDA approved oral inhibitor of EGFR and celecoxib is a FDA approved COX-2 inhibitor. Both have been well studied in humans and appear to have less severe toxicity than conventional chemotherapeutic agents.
Conditions
Conditions (5)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer of the Head | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Cancer of the Larynx | Malignant Laryngeal Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Cancer of the Neck | Malignant Neck Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Cancer of the Pharynx | Malignant Pharyngeal Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Paranasal Sinus Neoplasms | Paranasal Sinus Neoplasm | ONTOLOGY_EXACT | 0.98 |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| erlotinib + celecoxib | Drug | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (1)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- erlotinib + celecoxib
- interventionNames
- Drug: erlotinib + celecoxib
Primary outcomes (1)
- measure
- Toxicity
- timeFrame
- 30 DAYS
- description
- Number of participants with acute and late toxicity
Secondary outcomes (3)
- measure
- Clinical Response
- timeFrame
- 20 months
- description
- Response to Concurrent Erlotinib, Celecoxib, and Reirradiation according to Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors - Complete Response (CR): Disappearance of all target lesions Partial Response (PR): At least a 30% decrease in the sum of the LD of target lesions, taking as reference the baseline sum LD Progressive Disease (PD): At least a 20% increase in the sum of the LD of target lesions, taking as reference the smallest sum LD recorded since the treatment started or the appearance of one or more new lesions
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Age 18 years or older * Histologically or cytologically confirmed diagnosis of squamous cell or poorly differentiated carcinomas of the head and neck or lymphoepithelioma * Prior radiation to the head and neck, surgery or chemotherapy is allowed * Karnofsky performance status of \>= 70% * Intact organ and bone marrow function * Obtained informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Demonstration of metastatic disease (i.e. M1 disease). * Incomplete healing from previous surgery * Pregnancy or breast feeding (men and women of child-bearing potential are eligible but must consent to using effective contraception during therapy and for at least 3 months after completing therapy) * Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure (CHF), unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements * Patients with clinically significant pulmonary dysfunction, cardiomyopathy, or any history of clinically significant CHF are excluded. The exclusion of patients with active coronary artery disease will be at the discretion of the attending physician. * Uncontrolled active infection unless curable with treatment of their cancer.
References
Publications (4)
- BACKGROUNDSalama JK, Vokes EE, Chmura SJ, Milano MT, Kao J, Stenson KM, Witt ME, Haraf DJ. Long-term outcome of concurrent chemotherapy and reirradiation for recurrent and second primary head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2006 Feb 1;64(2):382-91. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2005.07.005. Epub 2005 Oct 5. PMID 16213104
- BACKGROUNDKao J, Garofalo MC, Milano MT, Chmura SJ, Citron JR, Haraf DJ. Reirradiation of recurrent and second primary head and neck malignancies: a comprehensive review. Cancer Treat Rev. 2003 Feb;29(1):21-30. doi: 10.1016/s0305-7372(02)00096-8. PMID 12633577
- BACKGROUNDJ. Kao, S. H. Packer, M. Teng, V. Gupta, K. Misiukiewicz, E. M. Genden; Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, J Clin Oncol 28:15s, 2010 (suppl; abstr 5561).
- RESULTKao J, Genden EM, Chen CT, Rivera M, Tong CC, Misiukiewicz K, Gupta V, Gurudutt V, Teng M, Packer SH. Phase 1 trial of concurrent erlotinib, celecoxib, and reirradiation for recurrent head and neck cancer. Cancer. 2011 Jul 15;117(14):3173-81. doi: 10.1002/cncr.25786. Epub 2011 Jan 18. PMID 21246519