Xevinapant

Clinical trials are studying Xevinapant in people with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. These studies look at whether adding Xevinapant to radiotherapy, with or without cetuximab, can improve outcomes such as survival and cancer control. The trials include older patients, people with locally advanced disease, and some who are high risk or cannot receive cisplatin.

Table of Contents

Trial overview

Clinical trials are studying Xevinapant in people with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, which is a cancer that starts in the lining cells of the mouth, throat, voice box, or nearby areas.[1][2][3]

These studies look at Xevinapant given with radiotherapy, and in one trial with cetuximab plus radiotherapy, to see whether outcomes are better than with placebo.[1][2][3]

Who was studied

The trials included different patient groups with head and neck cancer.[1][2][3]

  • Resected disease: one study enrolled people whose cancer had been removed by surgery and who were at high risk.[1]

  • Locally advanced disease: two studies focused on cancer that had grown beyond an early stage, but was still being treated in the head and neck area.[2][3]

  • Older patients: one Phase 2 study specifically studied older people with locally advanced head and neck cancer.[2]

  • Cisplatin-ineligible participants: one Phase 3 study included people who could not receive cisplatin, a common cancer treatment, based on the trial title.[1]

How the trials were designed

All three studies were interventional, which means the researchers assigned study treatments to compare outcomes.[1][2][3]

Two trials were Phase 3 studies, and one was a Phase 2 study.[1][2][3]

Phase 2 studies usually look for early signs that a treatment may help, while Phase 3 studies compare treatments in larger groups of people.[2][1][3]

  • One Phase 3 study compared Xevinapant plus radiotherapy with placebo plus radiotherapy after surgery in high-risk people who could not receive cisplatin.[1]

  • One Phase 2 study compared Xevinapant plus radiotherapy with placebo plus radiotherapy in older patients.[2]

  • One Phase 3 study compared Xevinapant plus cetuximab plus radiotherapy with placebo plus cetuximab plus radiotherapy.[3]

Main endpoints

The trials were built around survival and cancer-control outcomes.[1][2][3]

  • Disease-free survival (DFS) was the main outcome in the Phase 3 post-surgery study.[1]

  • Locoregional event-free survival (LREFS) was the main outcome in the Phase 2 older-patient study. This means the study tracked how long people stayed free from cancer return or worsening in the same area or nearby area, new head and neck cancer in the radiation field, or death from any cause.[2]

  • Progression-free survival (PFS) was the main outcome in the Phase 3 cetuximab study. This measures the time until the cancer gets worse, treatment fails before a complete response, or the cancer comes back after a complete response, or death occurs.[3]

What the trials aimed to show

The main purpose of the Phase 3 post-surgery study was to show better disease-free survival when Xevinapant was added to radiotherapy, compared with placebo plus radiotherapy, regardless of later cancer treatment.[1]

The Phase 2 study aimed to find out whether adding Xevinapant to radiotherapy could improve locoregional event-free survival in older patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer.[2]

The Phase 3 cetuximab study aimed to show better progression-free survival with Xevinapant-cetuximab-radiotherapy compared with placebo-cetuximab-radiotherapy.[3]

Completed studies

All three trials in the source data are listed as completed, which means the planned study work has ended.[1][2][3]

The completed studies include a large Phase 3 trial with 648 participants, a Phase 2 trial with 244 participants, and another Phase 3 trial with 377 participants.[1][2][3]

Trial ID Phase Condition studied Status Enrollment Main endpoint
2023-508528-36-00 Phase 3 Resected squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck Completed 648 Disease-free survival (DFS)
NCT05724602 Phase 2 Squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck Completed 244 Locoregional event-free survival (LREFS)
2022-502584-38-00 Phase 3 Locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck Completed 377 Progression-free survival (PFS)

Ongoing Clinical Trials on Xevinapant

  • Study on Xevinapant and Radiotherapy for High-Risk Head and Neck Cancer Patients Unable to Take High-Dose Cisplatin

    Not recruiting

    1 1
    Investigated drugs:
    Austria Belgium Czechia France Germany Greece +6
  • Study on Radiotherapy with Xevinapant or Placebo for Older Patients with Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

    Not recruiting

    Investigated drugs:
    Belgium France Germany Ireland Italy The Netherlands +3
  • Study of Radiotherapy with Cetuximab and Xevinapant for Patients with Advanced Head and Neck Cancer Unfit for High-Dose Cisplatin

    Not recruiting

    1 1 1
    Investigated diseases:
    Investigated drugs:
    France

Glossary

  • Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck: A cancer that starts in the flat cells lining the mouth, throat, voice box, or nearby areas.
  • Locally advanced: A cancer that has grown more than an early-stage tumor, but has not necessarily spread far from where it started.
  • Resected: Removed by surgery.
  • Radiotherapy (RT): Treatment that uses high-energy rays to kill cancer cells or stop them from growing.
  • Placebo: A look-alike treatment with no active study drug, used for comparison.
  • Cisplatin-ineligible: Not able to receive cisplatin treatment, often because it is not safe or suitable for that person.
  • Disease-free survival (DFS): The length of time after treatment when a person is alive and has no signs of cancer returning.
  • Locoregional event-free survival (LREFS): The time a person stays free from cancer coming back or getting worse in the same area or nearby area.
  • Progression-free survival (PFS): The time during and after treatment when the cancer does not get worse.
  • Independent review committee (IRC): A group that reviews study results in a separate, unbiased way.
  • Randomization: Assigning participants to treatment groups by chance.

References

  1. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/2023-508528-36-00
  2. https://clinicaltrials.eu/trial/study-on-radiotherapy-with-xevinapant-or-placebo-for-older-patients-with-advanced-head-and-neck-cancer/
  3. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/2022-502584-38-00