A Pilot Study of Presurgical Cemiplimab with Chemotherapy and Cetuximab in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer

Full Title

A Pilot Study of Neoadjuvant Cemiplimab with Platinum-Doublet Chemotherapy, and Cetuximab in Patients with Resectable, Locally Advanced Head & Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Purpose

Researchers are doing this study to find out whether combining the standard chemotherapy for head and neck cancer with the immunotherapy drugs cetuximab and cemiplimab is a safe treatment. They also want to know if receiving this combination treatment before surgery may allow patients to forgo the standard radiation treatment given after surgery.

Chemotherapy with platinum-containing drugs and the use of the drug cetuximab are standard treatments for head and neck cancer. Cemiplimab is an immunotherapy that works by boosting the ability of the immune system to detect and destroy cancer cells. The medications used in this study are given intravenously.