Clinical Trials Search at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

This phase II trial tests how well pB1-11 and human papillomavirus tumor antigen (TA-HPV) vaccines in combination with pembrolizumab work in treating patients with oropharyngeal cancer that has come back (recurrent) or that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic) and that is PD-L1 and human papillomavirus (HPV) positive. Oropharyngeal cancer is a type of head and neck cancer involving structures in the back of the throat (the oropharynx), such as the non-bony back roof of the mouth (soft palate), sides and back wall of the throat, tonsils, and back third of the tongue. Scientists have found that some strains or types of a virus called HPV can cause oropharyngeal cancer. pBI-11 is a circular deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) (plasmid) vaccine that promotes antibody, cytotoxic T cell, and protective immune responses. TA-HPV is an investigational recombinant vaccina virus derived from a strain of the vaccina virus which was widely used for smallpox vaccination. Vaccination with this TA-HPV vaccine may stimulate the immune system to mount a cytotoxic T cell response against tumor cells positive for HPV, resulting in decreased tumor growth. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as pembrolizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread by inhibiting the PD-1 receptor. These investigational vaccines could cause or enhance an immune response in the body against HPV, during which time the activity of pembrolizumab against oropharyngeal cancer associated with HPV may be strengthened. These drugs in combination may be more effective in increasing the ability of the immune system to fight oropharyngeal cancer than pembrolizumab alone.

Recent comparative data suggest that EUS gastroenterostomy offers more durable patency than enteral stents for treatment of malignant GOO, leading some endoscopists to suggest that EUS gastroenterostomy should be the preferred endoscopic treatment approach.

EUS gastroenterostomy and surgical gastrojejunostomy have been compared in retrospective cohort analysis, suggesting a high technical success rate a shorter hospital length of stay for the endoscopic approach \[4\]. Comparison of these techniques has not been reported in controlled prospective fashion. A prospective trial is necessary in order to define the optimal interventional management option for treatment of malignant GOO in the context of the contemporary and rapidly evolved range of available endoscopic and surgical treatment options.

This is a single-arm, phase II study of patients with advanced liver cancer or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who are eligible for first-line treatment with T300+D. The invesitgators hypothesize that T300+D will be safe and tolerated in CP-B patients with HCC. HCC mostly affects disadvantaged populations with higher rates among racial/ethnic minorities, who are often not included in clinical trials (i.e., Hispanics, Blacks, underserved, low socioeconomic status) and present with more severe disease. Given there is not much data in the US patient cohort, this study provides a chance to gain that knowledge.