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RecruitingNCT02734537Updated Sep 14, 2026

Radiation Therapy With or Without Cisplatin in Treating Patients With Stage III-IVA Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck Who Have Undergone Surgery

A Phase 2 interventional study of Cisplatin and Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Hypopharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma and Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma, sponsored by ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group. Recruiting at 679 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-14.

Sponsored by ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Nov 2016; still recruiting 9 years 11 months later.
Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
189
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This phase II trial studies how well radiation therapy with or without cisplatin works in treating patients with stage III-IVA squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck who have undergone surgery. Radiation therapy uses high energy x-rays to kill tumor cells and shrink tumors. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as cisplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. It is not yet known if radiation therapy is more effective with or without cisplatin in treating patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Read the detailed description

PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To evaluate the disease-free survival (DFS) of patients with stage III-IV squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) and disruptive p53 mutations after primary surgical resection followed by postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) alone or PORT with concurrent cisplatin.

SECONDARY OBJECTIVES:

I. To evaluate the DFS of patients with stage III-IV SCCHN and non-disruptive p53 mutations after primary surgical resection followed by PORT alone or PORT with concurrent cisplatin.

II. To evaluate the DFS of patients with stage III-IV SCCHN and p53 wild type after primary surgical resection followed by PORT alone or PORT with concurrent cisplatin.

III. To evaluate toxicities of PORT alone or PORT with concurrent cisplatin. IV. To evaluate p53 mutation as a predictive biomarker of survival benefit given post-operative concurrent radiation and cisplatin.

V. To identify potential genomic alterations in addition to TP53 mutations that may be developed to a novel treatment approach.

OUTLINE: Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.

ARM A: Patients undergo intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) once daily (QD) 5 days a week for 6 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

ARM B: Patients undergo IMRT QD 5 days a week and receive cisplatin intravenously (IV) over 1-2 hours weekly for 6 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

After completion of study treatment, patients are followed up every 6 months for 3 years and then every 12 months for 7 years.

02

Conditions studied

  • Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
  • Hypopharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
  • Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
  • Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Spindle Cell Variant
  • Lip and Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma
  • p16INK4a Negative Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
  • Stage III Hypopharyngeal Carcinoma AJCC v8
  • Stage III Laryngeal Cancer AJCC v8
  • Stage III Lip and Oral Cavity Cancer AJCC v8
  • Stage III Oral Cavity Verrucous Carcinoma
  • Stage III Oropharyngeal (p16-Negative) Carcinoma AJCC v8
  • Stage IVA Hypopharyngeal Carcinoma AJCC v8
  • Stage IVA Laryngeal Cancer AJCC v8
  • Stage IVA Lip and Oral Cavity Cancer AJCC v8
  • Stage IVA Oral Cavity Verrucous Carcinoma
  • Stage IVA Oropharyngeal (p16-Negative) Carcinoma AJCC v8
03

In context

Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck

2,018 studies on the registry are indexed under Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck; 573 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 189 is above the median of 48 across 1,653 interventional studies indexed under Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck.

Browse Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck studies →

Lead sponsor

ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group is the lead sponsor of 122 studies on the registry; 16 are open to participants now.

Of its 13 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 13 (100%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • PRE-REGISTRATION (STEP 0)
  • proven diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma (including variants such as verrucous carcinoma, spindle cell carcinoma, carcinoma not otherwise specified [NOS]) of the head/neck (oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx or larynx); pathologic stage III or IVA (American Joint Committee on Cancer [AJCC] 8): T3-T4a, N0-3, M0 or T1-T2, N1-3, M0
  • Patient has undergone total resection of the primary tumor with curative intent

    • NOTE: Patient is to be pre-registered to screening (Step 0) and tissue submitted to Foundation Medicine as soon as possible after surgery in order to meet the 8 week deadline to register the patient to Step 1 after surgery; full assay minimum turn-around time is 17-24 days
  • For oropharynx primary tumors, the patient must have negative human papillomavirus (HPV) status of the tumor as determined by p16 protein expression using immunohistochemistry (IHC)
  • Patients with, per the operative and/or pathology report, positive margin(s) (tumor present at the cut or inked edge of the tumor) which is not superceded by an additional margin of tumor-negative tissue, nodal extracapsular extension, and/or gross residual disease after surgery are not eligible
  • A paraffin-embedded surgical tumor tissue specimen has been located is available for shipment to Foundation Medicine, Inc. following pre-registration

    • NOTE: Complete the EA3132-specific FoundationOne requisition form
  • Patients with a history of a curatively treated must be disease-free for at least two years except for carcinoma in situ of cervix and/or non-melanomatous skin cancer; patients must not have received chemotherapy or therapy within two years of surgical resection of the primary tumor
  • Patient must not have had previous irradiation to the head and neck that would result in overlap in radiation fields for the current disease
  • Patients with recurrent disease or multiple primaries are ineligible
  • RANDOMIZATION (STEP 1)
  • NOTE: Patient must meet all eligibility criteria outlined in pre-registration; patient may not be randomized until site has been notified that the central determination of p53 mutation status of the surgical tumor tissue has been completed and site has been notified of assay completion
  • Per the operative report, the gross total resection of the primary tumor with curative intent was completed within 8 weeks prior to randomization
  • The patient must have the following assessments done =\< 8 weeks prior to randomization:

    • Examination by a head and neck surgeon
    • Chest x-ray (or chest computed tomography [CT] scan or CT/positron emission tomography [PET] of the chest or magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]) to rule out distant disease
  • Patient has (ECOG) performance status 0-1 within 2 weeks prior to randomization
  • Women must not be pregnant or breast-feeding; females of must have a blood or urine study within 2 weeks prior to randomization to rule out pregnancy; a female of childbearing potential is any woman, regardless of sexual orientation or whether they have undergone tubal ligation, who meets the following criteria: 1) has not undergone a hysterectomy or bilateral oophorectomy; or 2) has not been naturally for at least 24 consecutive months (i.e., has had menses at any time in the preceding 24 consecutive months)
  • Women of childbearing potential and sexually active males must be strongly advised to use an accepted and effective method of or to abstain from sexual intercourse for the duration of their participation in the study and until 60 days from the last study treatment
  • >= 1,500/mm\^3 within 4 weeks prior to randomization
  • >= 100,000/mm\^3 within 4 weeks prior to randomization
  • Total =\< the (ULN) within 4 weeks prior to randomization
  • Calculated must be > 60 ml/min using the Cockcroft-Gault formula within 4 weeks prior to randomization
  • Patient must not have an intercurrent illness likely to interfere with protocol therapy
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(13)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

Histologically or cytologically confirmed

The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).

Your pathology report is the document that shows this.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

ECOG performance status

A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.

0
Fully active, no restrictions.
1
Limited in strenuous activity, but walking and able to do light work, such as housework or office work.
2
Walking and able to look after yourself, but unable to work; up and about more than half of waking hours.
3
Able to look after yourself only in part; in bed or a chair more than half of waking hours.
4
Unable to look after yourself at all; in bed or a chair all day.

Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

Postmenopausal

Periods have stopped for good: usually no period for 12 months in a row without another medical reason, sometimes confirmed by a blood test (FSH).

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

Absolute neutrophil count (ANC)

The number of neutrophils, white blood cells that help fight infection, in a given amount of blood. Too few raises the risk of infection.

It is a count, not a percentage of the white cells. Limits are written in units that mean the same: ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L is ≥ 1,500 per mm³ (µL). Each lab has its own reference range.

Platelets

Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.

Bilirubin

A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.

Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.

ULN (upper limit of normal)

The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.

“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.

Creatinine clearance (CrCl)

How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
189 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Arm A (IMRT)

    Patients undergo IMRT QD 5 days a week for 6 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

    Radiation: Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy · Other: Laboratory Biomarker Analysis

  • Experimental
    Arm B (IMRT, cisplatin)

    Patients undergo IMRT QD 5 days a week and receive cisplatin IV over 1-2 hours weekly for 6 weeks in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity.

    Drug: Cisplatin · Radiation: Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy · Other: Laboratory Biomarker Analysis

Interventions

  • Given IV

    Also known as: Abiplatin, Blastolem, Briplatin, CDDP, Cis-diammine-dichloroplatinum, Cis-diamminedichloridoplatinum, Cis-diamminedichloro Platinum (II), Cis-diamminedichloroplatinum, Cis-dichloroammine Platinum (II), Cis-platinous Diamine Dichloride, Cis-platinum, Cis-platinum II, Cis-platinum II Diamine Dichloride, Cismaplat, Cisplatina, Cisplatinum, Cisplatyl, Citoplatino, Citosin, Cysplatyna, DDP, Lederplatin, Metaplatin, Neoplatin, Peyrone's Chloride, Peyrone's Salt, Placis, Plastistil, Platamine, Platiblastin, Platiblastin-S, Platinex, Platinol, Platinol- AQ, Platinol-AQ, Platinol-AQ VHA Plus, Platinoxan, Platinum, Platinum Diamminodichloride, Platiran, Platistin, Platosin

  • RadiationIntensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy

    Undergo IMRT

    Also known as: IMRT, Intensity Modulated RT, Intensity-Modulated Radiotherapy

  • OtherLaboratory Biomarker Analysis

    Correlative studies

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Disease-free survival in patients with stage III-IV disease and disruptive p53 mutation

    Kaplan-Meier estimates will be used to estimate event-time distributions and comparison between arms will be performed using a log-rank test.

    Time frame: Date of randomization to the date of recurrence, second primary tumor from the head and neck region, or death, assessed up to 10 years

Secondary outcomes

  1. Disease-free survival in patients with stage III-IV disease and non-disruptive p53 mutation

    Kaplan-Meier estimates will be used to estimate event-time distributions and comparison between arms will be performed using a log-rank test.

    Time frame: Date of randomization to the date of recurrence, second primary tumor from the head and neck region, or death, assessed up to 10 years

  2. Disease-free survival in patients with stage III-IV disease and wild type p53 mutation

    Kaplan-Meier estimates will be used to estimate event-time distributions and comparison between arms will be performed using a log-rank test.

    Time frame: Date of randomization to the date of recurrence, second primary tumor from the head and neck region, or death, assessed up to 10 years

  3. Incidence of adverse events graded using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 4

    Toxicity will be examined by arm and compared using the Fisher's exact test.

    Time frame: Up to 6 weeks

  4. p53 as a predictive marker of recurrence

    To evaluate whether p53 is a predictive marker, a p53 by treatment arm interaction term will be tested in a Cox proportional hazards model.

    Time frame: Baseline

07

Study locations

463 of 679 sites recruiting

Showing the first 100 of 679 sites. Choose a country and city above to see the rest.

08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Sep 14, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02734537
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Apr 12, 2016
Start date
Nov 23, 2016
Primary completion
Dec 31, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 31, 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 14, 2026

Study contacts

Robert Ferris
principal investigator · ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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Studies of the drug tested here: Cisplatin

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