Capecitabine
DrugPatients will receive fixed-dose capecitabine prior to surgery
NCT Number: NCT07254962
head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a type of cancer that affects areas such as the mouth, throat, and voice box. Despite medical progress, little has changed in the care for patients with HPV-negative cancer. The standard care involves surgery followed by radiation or chemotherapy if needed. However, delays in starting treatment - especially beyond six weeks - are linked to worse outcomes. Many patients also experience cancer returning within two years, often making it harder to treat. This study aims to improve outcomes by giving patients a short course of capecitabine, a chemotherapy pill, before surgery. Capecitabine is easier to tolerate than traditional intravenous chemotherapy and has shown promising results in shrinking tumors. Researchers believe that starting this oral treatment early could reduce delays, shrink tumors, make surgery less complex, and improve survival. The clinical trial will randomly assign patients with newly diagnosed stage III or IVa HPV-negative head and neck cancer to receive either standard care or capecitabine before surgery. Surgery will be performed within six weeks of diagnosis, followed by additional therapy as needed. The study will measure how well the tumor responds under the microscope after surgery, how much it shrinks on scans, the safety of the treatment, and cancer-free survival at two years. It will also explore biological markers linked to treatment response.
If successful, this approach could offer a simpler, faster, and more effective way to treat head and neck cancer, leading to earlier treatment, less invasive surgery, and improved patient outcomes. The study plans to include about 62 patients to evaluate the benefits of this new treatment strategy
Trial opening soon.
Get Notified18 year and older
All sexes
Interventional
Phase 2
Healthy volunteers accepted: No
Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.
Inclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria
Patients will receive fixed-dose capecitabine prior to surgery
Standard of care (no intervention until surgery)
Time frame: From initiation of capecitabine to surgery
modified Ryan criteria: score based on the following: no viable cancer, rare groups of cancer cells, residual cancer with tumor regression, no evident tumor regression
Time frame: Within first 60 days of treatment initiation
CTCAE version 5 grade 3 or greater
Time frame: From date of randomization until the date of first documented progression or date of death from any cause, whichever came first, assessed up to 60 months
Disease-Free Survival: length of time after definitive therapy during which free from cancer.
Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.
Marco Mascarella, Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology, MD, MSc, PhD
CONTACT
Sir Mortimer B. Davis - Jewish General Hospital
Other
Acronym: CAPTURE
OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.
View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.
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