Clinical Trials Search at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center

This phase III trial compares pembrolizumab with radiation therapy to pembrolizumab without radiation therapy (standard therapy) given after pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck that has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic). Pembrolizumab is a type of immunotherapy that stimulates the body's immune system to fight cancer cells. Pembrolizumab targets and blocks a protein called PD-1 on the surface of certain immune cells called T-cells. Blocking PD-1 triggers the T-cells to find and kill cancer cells. Radiation therapy uses high-powered rays to kill cancer cells. Giving radiation with pembrolizumab may be more effective at treating patients with metastatic head and neck cancer than the standard therapy of giving pembrolizumab alone.

This phase I/II trial studies the safety, side effects and best dose of M3814 and to see how well it works when given together with radiation therapy in treating patients with pancreatic cancer that has spread to nearby tissue or lymph nodes (locally advanced). M3814 may stop the growth of tumor cells by blocking some of the enzymes needed for cell growth. Hypofractionated radiation therapy delivers higher doses of radiation therapy over a shorter period of time and may kill more tumor cells and have fewer side effects. Giving M3814 and hypofractionated radiation therapy together may be safe, tolerable and/or more effective than radiation therapy alone in treating patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer.