TORS De-Intensification Protocol Version 2.0: Dose and Volume Reduction in the Neck

NCT ID: NCT03729518

Last Updated: 2025-02-10

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

150 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2018-10-11

Study Completion Date

2025-12-31

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

This is a single-arm Phase II study of adjuvant radiation for locally advanced p16+ oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. The main purpose of this research is to determine the likelihood of cancer growing back in the throat or in the neck two years after completion of radiation if lower doses of radiation are used to a smaller area of the head and neck region than is currently used in standard of care.

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

This is a single arm Phase II study of adjuvant radiation for locally-advanced p16+ oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Patients with pT0-T3, N0-N2b, M0 disease (per AJCC 7th ed) with \<5 positive lymph nodes, will be eligible. Patients will have undergone TORS primary site resection and ipsilateral neck dissection. Patients will undergo radiation dose reduction and target volume reduction.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Oropharyngeal Cancer Squamous Cell Carcinoma Human Papilloma Virus

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

NA

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Arm 1

All patients will have the volume treated and radiation dose delivered to the regional lymphatics decreased according to the characteristics of the primary site and involved lymph nodes. The high risk neck will receive 50 Gy instead of 60 Gy, and the treated volume of the contralateral low risk neck will be reduced and receive only 45 Gy.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Radiation Therapy (IMRT or IMPT)

Intervention Type RADIATION

* Treatment of the primary tumor bed will be omitted in appropriate patients, as per the initial TORS de-intensification protocol. In those patients requiring treatment of the primary site, reduced dose (50 Gy) will be delivered.
* Receipt of concurrent chemotherapy per current guidelines. Chemotherapy may be omitted in patients with focal or microscopic ENE (defined as ≤ 1 mm ENE), at the discretion of the treating Medical Oncologist.
* Blood samples will be obtained at time of enrollment, and at two time points during RT, to quantify circulating HPV DNA and perform immune profiling.

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Radiation Therapy (IMRT or IMPT)

* Treatment of the primary tumor bed will be omitted in appropriate patients, as per the initial TORS de-intensification protocol. In those patients requiring treatment of the primary site, reduced dose (50 Gy) will be delivered.
* Receipt of concurrent chemotherapy per current guidelines. Chemotherapy may be omitted in patients with focal or microscopic ENE (defined as ≤ 1 mm ENE), at the discretion of the treating Medical Oncologist.
* Blood samples will be obtained at time of enrollment, and at two time points during RT, to quantify circulating HPV DNA and perform immune profiling.

Intervention Type RADIATION

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* Patients \>= 18 years old
* Histologically confirmed diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx, p16-positive on immunohistochemistry
* Pathologic T0 (unknown primary), T1, T2, or T3 disease (per AJCC 7th Ed)
* Pathologic N0, N1, N2a, or N2b disease (per AJCC 7th Ed), with \< 5 positive lymph nodes
* ECOG Performance Status 0-1

Exclusion Criteria

* Prior radiation therapy to the head and neck
* Presence of T4 disease
* Presence of N2c or N3 neck disease (per AJCC 7th Ed)
* \>= 5 lymph nodes
* Presence of distant metastatic disease
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

Site Status

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

United States

References

Explore related publications, articles, or registry entries linked to this study.

Weinstein GS, O'Malley BW Jr, Cohen MA, Quon H. Transoral robotic surgery for advanced oropharyngeal carcinoma. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2010 Nov;136(11):1079-85. doi: 10.1001/archoto.2010.191.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 21079160 (View on PubMed)

Weinstein GS, Quon H, O'Malley BW Jr, Kim GG, Cohen MA. Selective neck dissection and deintensified postoperative radiation and chemotherapy for oropharyngeal cancer: a subset analysis of the University of Pennsylvania transoral robotic surgery trial. Laryngoscope. 2010 Sep;120(9):1749-55. doi: 10.1002/lary.21021.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20717944 (View on PubMed)

Ang KK, Harris J, Wheeler R, Weber R, Rosenthal DI, Nguyen-Tan PF, Westra WH, Chung CH, Jordan RC, Lu C, Kim H, Axelrod R, Silverman CC, Redmond KP, Gillison ML. Human papillomavirus and survival of patients with oropharyngeal cancer. N Engl J Med. 2010 Jul 1;363(1):24-35. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa0912217. Epub 2010 Jun 7.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20530316 (View on PubMed)

O'Sullivan B, Huang SH, Siu LL, Waldron J, Zhao H, Perez-Ordonez B, Weinreb I, Kim J, Ringash J, Bayley A, Dawson LA, Hope A, Cho J, Irish J, Gilbert R, Gullane P, Hui A, Liu FF, Chen E, Xu W. Deintensification candidate subgroups in human papillomavirus-related oropharyngeal cancer according to minimal risk of distant metastasis. J Clin Oncol. 2013 Feb 10;31(5):543-50. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2012.44.0164. Epub 2013 Jan 7.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 23295795 (View on PubMed)

Cohen MA, Weinstein GS, O'Malley BW Jr, Feldman M, Quon H. Transoral robotic surgery and human papillomavirus status: Oncologic results. Head Neck. 2011 Apr;33(4):573-80. doi: 10.1002/hed.21500. Epub 2010 Dec 6.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 21425382 (View on PubMed)

Quon H, Cohen MA, Montone KT, Ziober AF, Wang LP, Weinstein GS, O'Malley BW Jr. Transoral robotic surgery and adjuvant therapy for oropharyngeal carcinomas and the influence of p16 INK4a on treatment outcomes. Laryngoscope. 2013 Mar;123(3):635-40. doi: 10.1002/lary.22172. Epub 2013 Feb 1.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 22588642 (View on PubMed)

Ingle CJ, Yip K, Caskie V, Dyson C, Ford A, Scrase CD. Intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) in the management of locally advanced oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomata (SCC): disease control and functional outcome using the therapy outcome measure (TOM) score--report from a single U.K. institution. Head Neck Oncol. 2010 Oct 14;2:28. doi: 10.1186/1758-3284-2-28.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 20946673 (View on PubMed)

Lukens JN, Lin A, Gamerman V, Mitra N, Grover S, McMenamin EM, Weinstein GS, O'Malley BW Jr, Cohen RB, Orisamolu A, Ahn PH, Quon H. Late consequential surgical bed soft tissue necrosis in advanced oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas treated with transoral robotic surgery and postoperative radiation therapy. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2014 Aug 1;89(5):981-988. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2014.04.024. Epub 2014 Jun 10.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 24928257 (View on PubMed)

Weinstein GS, Quon H, Newman HJ, Chalian JA, Malloy K, Lin A, Desai A, Livolsi VA, Montone KT, Cohen KR, O'Malley BW. Transoral robotic surgery alone for oropharyngeal cancer: an analysis of local control. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2012 Jul;138(7):628-34. doi: 10.1001/archoto.2012.1166.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 22801885 (View on PubMed)

Ojerholm E, Lukens JN, Ahn PH, Geiger G, Swisher-McClure S, Newman J, Chalian A, Weinstein G, O'Malley BW Jr, Cohen R, Lin A. Benefits of omitting primary site radiation therapy after transoral robotic surgery: Only time will tell. Pract Radiat Oncol. 2017 May-Jun;7(3):e157-e158. doi: 10.1016/j.prro.2016.10.019. Epub 2016 Nov 4. No abstract available.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28094210 (View on PubMed)

Gamez ME, Halyard MY, Hinni ML, Hayden RE, Nagel TH, Vargas CE, Wong WW, Curtis KK, Zarka MA, Ma D, Patel SH. Mucosal Sparing Radiation Therapy in Resected Oropharyngeal Cancer. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2017 Mar;126(3):185-191. doi: 10.1177/0003489416681580. Epub 2017 Jan 5.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28056518 (View on PubMed)

Erratum to: Routman DM, Funk RK, Tangsriwong K, et al. Relapse rates with surgery alone in human papillomavirus-related intermediate- and high-risk group oropharynx squamous cell cancer: A multi-institutional review. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2017;99:938-946. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2018 Apr 1;100(5):1304. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2017.12.286. No abstract available.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 29722676 (View on PubMed)

ClinicalTrials.gov. Post-operative Adjuvant Treatment for HPV-positive Tumours (PATHOS).

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Chen AM, Felix C, Wang PC, Hsu S, Basehart V, Garst J, Beron P, Wong D, Rosove MH, Rao S, Melanson H, Kim E, Palmer D, Qi L, Kelly K, Steinberg ML, Kupelian PA, Daly ME. Reduced-dose radiotherapy for human papillomavirus-associated squamous-cell carcinoma of the oropharynx: a single-arm, phase 2 study. Lancet Oncol. 2017 Jun;18(6):803-811. doi: 10.1016/S1470-2045(17)30246-2. Epub 2017 Apr 20.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28434660 (View on PubMed)

Huang SH, Waldron J, Bratman SV, Su J, Kim J, Bayley A, Cho J, Giuliani M, Hope A, Ringash J, Hansen A, de Almeida JR, Goldstein D, Perez-Ordonez B, Weinreb I, Tong L, Xu W, O'Sullivan B. Re-evaluation of Ipsilateral Radiation for T1-T2N0-N2b Tonsil Carcinoma at the Princess Margaret Hospital in the Human Papillomavirus Era, 25 Years Later. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2017 May 1;98(1):159-169. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2017.01.018. Epub 2017 Jan 9.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28258895 (View on PubMed)

Expert Panel on Radiation Oncology--Head & Neck Cancer:; Yeung AR, Garg MK, Lawson J, McDonald MW, Quon H, Ridge JA, Saba N, Salama JK, Smith RV, Yom SS, Beitler JJ; American College of Radiology. ACR Appropriateness Criteria(R) ipsilateral radiation for squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil. Head Neck. 2012 May;34(5):613-6. doi: 10.1002/hed.21993. Epub 2012 Jan 17.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 22250010 (View on PubMed)

Liu C, Corry J, Peters L. Letter to the editor regarding ACR Appropriateness Criteria for ipsilateral radiation for squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil. Head Neck. 2013 Mar;35(3):464. doi: 10.1002/hed.23207. Epub 2013 Feb 5. No abstract available.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 23386545 (View on PubMed)

Liu C, Dutu G, Peters LJ, Rischin D, Corry J. Tonsillar cancer: the Peter MacCallum experience with unilateral and bilateral irradiation. Head Neck. 2014 Mar;36(3):317-22. doi: 10.1002/hed.23297. Epub 2013 Jun 1.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 23729387 (View on PubMed)

Hu KS, Mourad WF, Gamez M, Safdieh J, Lin W, Jacobson AS, Persky MS, Urken ML, Culliney B, Li Z, Tran TN, Schantz SP, Chadha J, Harrison LB. Low rates of contralateral neck failure in unilaterally treated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma with prospectively defined criteria of lateralization. Head Neck. 2017 Aug;39(8):1647-1654. doi: 10.1002/hed.24806. Epub 2017 May 5.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28474380 (View on PubMed)

J. Gershowitz AD, J.N. Lukens, S.D. Swisher-McClure, G.A. Geiger Jr., A. Lin. Pathologic Risk Factors Associated With Contralateral Neck Disease in Patients with Tonsil Cancer: Implications on Patient Selection for Unilateral Neck Radiation Therapy. International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics. 2017;99(2):S234.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

H.B. Musunuru PY, H.C. Ko, T. Kennedy, P.M. Harari, M.E. Witek. Can Elective Neck Radiation Treatment Volumes be Safely Reduced to Diminish Toxicity Profiles for Oropharynx Cancer Patients? International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics. 2017;99(2 Supplement):E361.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Sinha P, Lewis JS Jr, Piccirillo JF, Kallogjeri D, Haughey BH. Extracapsular spread and adjuvant therapy in human papillomavirus-related, p16-positive oropharyngeal carcinoma. Cancer. 2012 Jul 15;118(14):3519-30. doi: 10.1002/cncr.26671. Epub 2011 Nov 15.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 22086669 (View on PubMed)

Kaczmar JM, Tan KS, Heitjan DF, Lin A, Ahn PH, Newman JG, Rassekh CH, Chalian AA, O'Malley BW Jr, Cohen RB, Weinstein GS. HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer: Risk factors for treatment failure in patients managed with primary transoral robotic surgery. Head Neck. 2016 Jan;38(1):59-65. doi: 10.1002/hed.23850. Epub 2015 Apr 6.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 25197014 (View on PubMed)

Rwigema JM, Langendijk JA, Paul van der Laan H, Lukens JN, Swisher-McClure SD, Lin A. A Model-Based Approach to Predict Short-Term Toxicity Benefits With Proton Therapy for Oropharyngeal Cancer. Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2019 Jul 1;104(3):553-562. doi: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2018.12.055. Epub 2019 Jan 6.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 30625409 (View on PubMed)

P. Ahn SS, O. Zhou, J.N. Lukens, A. Lin. A Comparative Quality of Life Cohort of Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell (OPSCC) Patients Treated With Volumetric Modulated Radiation Therapy (VMAT) Versus Proton Pencil Beam Scanning (PBS). International journal of radiation oncology, biology, physics. 2016;93(3 Supp):S71.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Lee JY, Garcia-Murillas I, Cutts RJ, De Castro DG, Grove L, Hurley T, Wang F, Nutting C, Newbold K, Harrington K, Turner N, Bhide S. Predicting response to radical (chemo)radiotherapy with circulating HPV DNA in locally advanced head and neck squamous carcinoma. Br J Cancer. 2017 Sep 5;117(6):876-883. doi: 10.1038/bjc.2017.258. Epub 2017 Aug 15.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28809864 (View on PubMed)

Masterson L, Lechner M, Loewenbein S, Mohammed H, Davies-Husband C, Fenton T, Sudhoff H, Jani P, Goon P, Sterling J. CD8+ T cell response to human papillomavirus 16 E7 is able to predict survival outcome in oropharyngeal cancer. Eur J Cancer. 2016 Nov;67:141-151. doi: 10.1016/j.ejca.2016.08.012. Epub 2016 Sep 24.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27669501 (View on PubMed)

Parikh F, Duluc D, Imai N, Clark A, Misiukiewicz K, Bonomi M, Gupta V, Patsias A, Parides M, Demicco EG, Zhang DY, Kim-Schulze S, Kao J, Gnjatic S, Oh S, Posner MR, Sikora AG. Chemoradiotherapy-induced upregulation of PD-1 antagonizes immunity to HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer. Cancer Res. 2014 Dec 15;74(24):7205-16. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-14-1913. Epub 2014 Oct 15.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 25320012 (View on PubMed)

Huang AC, Postow MA, Orlowski RJ, Mick R, Bengsch B, Manne S, Xu W, Harmon S, Giles JR, Wenz B, Adamow M, Kuk D, Panageas KS, Carrera C, Wong P, Quagliarello F, Wubbenhorst B, D'Andrea K, Pauken KE, Herati RS, Staupe RP, Schenkel JM, McGettigan S, Kothari S, George SM, Vonderheide RH, Amaravadi RK, Karakousis GC, Schuchter LM, Xu X, Nathanson KL, Wolchok JD, Gangadhar TC, Wherry EJ. T-cell invigoration to tumour burden ratio associated with anti-PD-1 response. Nature. 2017 May 4;545(7652):60-65. doi: 10.1038/nature22079. Epub 2017 Apr 10.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28397821 (View on PubMed)

Kamphorst AO, Pillai RN, Yang S, Nasti TH, Akondy RS, Wieland A, Sica GL, Yu K, Koenig L, Patel NT, Behera M, Wu H, McCausland M, Chen Z, Zhang C, Khuri FR, Owonikoko TK, Ahmed R, Ramalingam SS. Proliferation of PD-1+ CD8 T cells in peripheral blood after PD-1-targeted therapy in lung cancer patients. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 May 9;114(19):4993-4998. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1705327114. Epub 2017 Apr 26.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28446615 (View on PubMed)

Tejeda HA, Green SB, Trimble EL, Ford L, High JL, Ungerleider RS, Friedman MA, Brawley OW. Representation of African-Americans, Hispanics, and whites in National Cancer Institute cancer treatment trials. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1996 Jun 19;88(12):812-6. doi: 10.1093/jnci/88.12.812.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 8637047 (View on PubMed)

Sikora AG, Toniolo P, DeLacure MD. The changing demographics of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in the United States. Laryngoscope. 2004 Nov;114(11):1915-23. doi: 10.1097/01.mlg.0000147920.66486.bc.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 15510014 (View on PubMed)

Society AC. Cancer Facts and Figures 2011. 2011.

Reference Type BACKGROUND

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

UPCC 15318

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

More Related Trials

Additional clinical trials that may be relevant based on similarity analysis.

Efficacy and Safety of TORS for SCCA
NCT01819480 ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING NA