A trial looking at zalutumumab for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

Cancer type:

Head and neck cancers

Laryngeal cancer

Mouth (oral) cancer

Nasal and paranasal sinus cancer

Nasopharyngeal cancer

Pharyngeal cancer

Status:

Results

Phase:

Phase 3

This trial looked at zalutumumab for head and neck cancer that continued to grow or came back after chemotherapy with a platinum drug Open a glossary item .

Many head and neck cancers are squamous cell carcinomas. Squamous cells are the flat, skin like cells that cover the inside of the mouth, nose and throat. Carcinoma just means cancer. So squamous cell carcinoma is cancer that starts in these cells.

Zalutumumab is a type of biological therapy called a monoclonal antibody. It seeks out cancer cells by looking for a particular protein.

In this trial, the researchers wanted to find out if zalutumumab stopped or slowed down the growth of squamous cell carcinoma. And to see if it could improve quality of life Open a glossary item . The aims of the trial were to

See if zalutumumab helped people with head and neck cancer
Learn more about the side effects

Summary of results

The trial team found that zalutumumab increased the amount of time it took for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck to start growing again.

This was an international phase 3 trial. It recruited 286 people. This was a randomised trial. The people taking part were put into 1 of 2 treatment groups

191 had zalutumumab and best supportive care
95 had best supportive care

Overall the average amount of time people lived was

Just over 6½ months for those who had zalutumumab
Just over 5 months for those who didn’t have zalutumumab

6 months after treatment, 57 out of every 100 people (57%) who had zalutumumab were still alive. 42 out of every 100 people (42%) who didn’t have zalutumumab were still alive.

The average length of time it took for the cancer to start growing again was

Just under 10 weeks for those who had zalutumumab
Just over 8 weeks for those who didn’t have zalutumumab

The most common side effects were

The trial team concluded that although zalutumumab didn’t increase the amount of time people lived, it did increase the amount of time it took for the cancer to start growing again.

We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists (peer reviewed Open a glossary item ) and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.