Head and Neck Squamous Cell CarcinomaNCT03953443
Expression & Epigenetic Silencing of MicroRNA for Predicting Therapeutic Response and Prognosis of HPV-negative HNSCC
An observational study of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma, run by New Mexico Cancer Research Alliance at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
A two-part molecular epidemiological study will be conducted to comprehensively assess the association between miR expression and miR promoter methylation and the response to therapy and prognosis in primary, HPV-negative HNSCC patients. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
- What is being tested?
- Not interventional
- How many people
- 25 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 17 Dec 2010to 14 Mar 2023
- Phase
- Observational
- Are there results?
- None posted in the registry
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 18 years and older
- All sexes
- No healthy volunteers
- Adult, Older adult
Study population: Patients with known or suspected HNSCC
Who may be able to join
- Patients with a known or suspected diagnosis of HNSCC
- Any primary site may be included, except nonkeratinizing nasopharyngeal SCC or lip SCC.
- Patients are planned for diagnostic biopsies for suspected HNSCC, or for therapeutic surgery for HNSCC.
- Patients are naïve to radiation to the head and neck, prior to research biopsies.
- Patients have not received chemotherapy for the diagnosis of HNSCC, prior to research biopsies.
- Age > 18 years.
- Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0-2.
- Patients sign an informed consent, agreeing to fresh tumor biopsy as well as distant normal mucosal biopsy for purposes of described research. Research biopsies will be in addition to planned surgery. In cases where tumor resection is planned, a representative part of the tumor will be submitted for research purposes.
Who cannot join
- Nonkeratinizing nasopharyngeal carcinoma
- Lip squamous cell carcinoma
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
United States1 site
University of New Mexico - Cancer Center
Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87106
About this study
Official title: INST 1008: Expression and Epigenetic Silencing of MicroRNA for Predicting the Therapeutic Response and Prognosis of HPV-negative Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC)
A two-part molecular epidemiological study will be conducted to comprehensively assess the association between miR expression and miR promoter methylation and the response to therapy and prognosis in primary, HPV-negative HNSCC patients. Part 1 will be a prospective collection of 25 pairs of fresh tumor-distant normal mucosal tissue in patients with HNSCC. Ultimately, 15 HPV-negative tumor-mucosal pairs will be utilized for discovery work in identifying miRs whose expression is up- or down-regulated in tumors. Part 2 will test the association between miR expression and miR promoter methylation, and therapeutic response and survival in all archived surgical cases of HPV-negative HNSCC at University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) collected after 1990.
Read the detailed description
- Part 1, Prospective Collection of Fresh Tumor-Distant Normal Pairs
The investigators will prospectively collect 25 pairs of fresh HNSCC tumor-distant normal mucosal tissue.
- Part 2, Retrospective Molecular Epidemiology Study of the Association of miRs with Therapeutic Response and Prognosis in HNSCC.
The investigators will comprehensively test the association between miR expression and miR promoter methylation, and the response to therapy and survival in all cases of surgical HPV-negative HNSCC at UNMH collected after 1990. Lip and nonkeratinizing nasopharyngeal cases will be excluded as these are etiologically distinct and related to cutaneous SCC or to EB virus infection, respectively. No cases will be excluded due to gender, age, race or ethnicity.
- Conditions
- Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
- Being tested
- Not interventional
- Medical subject headings
- Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Not interventionalOther
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Identify tumor specific microRNAs (miRs) whose expression increases or decreases by over 2 fold in fresh tumor vs. distant normal mucosa from patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) negative for human papillomavirus (HPV)
SOLiD sequencing of fresh tumor-distant normal pairs will discover miRs whose expression is altered in HNSCC tumors. SOLiD sequencing will provide fully quantitative data for the expression of known and novel miRs. Because HPV-related tumors comprise approximately 20% of all HNSCC and are biologically distinct from HPV negative tumors classically associated with tobacco and alcohol, only HNSCC without p16 overexpression will be used in this discovery experiment. This restriction will increase homogeneity of the samples and the power to detect miRs associated with the etiology of HPV-negative HNSCC. The miRs identified will be validated using qPCR assay in the tumor-normal pairs and in p16-negative HNSCC cell lines (n>15). In addition, miRs previously reported to be dysregulated in HNSCC will be subjected to similar validation, even if not identified during the SOLiD sequencing discovery phase.
Measured: As long as needed to collect 15 HPV-negative tumor-mucosal sample pairs and complete sequencing, up to 10 years
Identify miRs whose reduced expression in HPV-negative HNSCC is due to promoter methylation
miRs with reduced expression in tumor tissue identified under Outcome 1 will be scrutinized for CpG rich promoters by checking the UCSC database. The methylation status of CpG rich promoters of miRs will be examined by COBRA assay in tumor vs. normal pairs (n=15) and in p16-negative HNSCC cell lines (n>15). The heterogeneity of methylation status across the CpG rich promoter will be characterized by bisulfate sequencing using the COBRA PCR product. The silencing of miRs by promoter methylation will be examined by comparing mean miR expression levels between the methylation categories for the tumor-normal pairs and for the HNSCC cell lines. This is primarily a descriptive study.
Measured: As long as needed to complete sequencing and analyze results, up to 5 years
Define the statistical association between the expression of tumor specific miRs, miR methylation, and the therapeutic response and prognosis of HPV-negative HNSCC using patient medical records
The therapeutic response and prognosis of HPV-negative HNSCC will be collected from two sources: the patient's case file from the New Mexico Tumor Registry (NMTR) and from the patient's UNMH medical record. qRT PCR will be designed to quantify the miR expression in RNA extracted from the formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues. A methylation-specific PCR (MSP) will be designed to facilitate the large-scale methyl-typing in all retrospective clinical samples. The primary analysis will be performed in HPV-negative HNSCC. A secondary analysis will be conducted to include all HNSCC, with and without p16 overexpression. p16 overexpression status will be adjusted in the secondary analysis. The association between miR expression status (high or low) and miR methylation status (yes or no), and patient's PFS and OS will be examined using Kaplan-Meier survival plots and the log-rank test.
Measured: As long as needed to collect and analyze information from medical records, up to 5 years
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted16 May 2019
- Study start17 Dec 2010
- Primary completion13 Feb 2020
- Study completion14 Mar 2023
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Head and Neck Squamous Cell CarcinomaStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Observational
- Observational model
- Case only
- Time perspective
- Prospective
- Enrolment
- 25 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- New Mexico Cancer Research Alliance
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Garth Olson, MD, Principal investigator, University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03953443
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- INST 1008
- Status last verified
- May 2025
- First submitted
- 8 May 2019
- Last updated
- 22 May 2025
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 22 May 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- INST 1008: Expression and Epigenetic Silencing of MicroRNA for Predicting the Therapeutic Response and Prognosis of HPV-negative Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC)
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT03953443
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- INST 1008
- Conditions
- Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 25 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- New Mexico Cancer Research AllianceUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 17 Dec 2010 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 13 Feb 2020 (actual)
- Study completion
- 14 Mar 2023 (actual)
- First posted
- 16 May 2019 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
A two-part molecular epidemiological study will be conducted to comprehensively assess the association between miR expression and miR promoter methylation and the response to therapy and prognosis in primary, HPV-negative HNSCC patients. Part 1 will be a prospective collection of 25 pairs of fresh tumor-distant normal mucosal tissue in patients with HNSCC. Ultimately, 15 HPV-negative tumor-mucosal pairs will be utilized for discovery work in identifying miRs whose expression is up- or down-regulated in tumors. Part 2 will test the association between miR expression and miR promoter methylation, and therapeutic response and survival in all archived surgical cases of HPV-negative HNSCC at University of New Mexico Hospital (UNMH) collected after 1990.
Detailed description
- Part 1, Prospective Collection of Fresh Tumor-Distant Normal Pairs
The investigators will prospectively collect 25 pairs of fresh HNSCC tumor-distant normal mucosal tissue.
- Part 2, Retrospective Molecular Epidemiology Study of the Association of miRs with Therapeutic Response and Prognosis in HNSCC.
The investigators will comprehensively test the association between miR expression and miR promoter methylation, and the response to therapy and survival in all cases of surgical HPV-negative HNSCC at UNMH collected after 1990. Lip and nonkeratinizing nasopharyngeal cases will be excluded as these are etiologically distinct and related to cutaneous SCC or to EB virus infection, respectively. No cases will be excluded due to gender, age, race or ethnicity.
Study design
- Observational model
- Case only
- Time perspective
- Prospective
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
- Study population
- Patients with known or suspected HNSCC
Key inclusion criteria (8 listed)
- Patients with a known or suspected diagnosis of HNSCC
- Age > 18 years.
- Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status of 0-2.
- Patients sign an informed consent, agreeing to fresh tumor biopsy as well as distant normal mucosal biopsy for purposes of described research. Research biopsies will be in addition to planned surgery. In cases where tumor resection is planned, a representative part of the tumor will be submitted for research purposes.
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Nonkeratinizing nasopharyngeal carcinoma
- Lip squamous cell carcinoma
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| Not interventional | Other | – |
Primary outcome
Identify tumor specific microRNAs (miRs) whose expression increases or decreases by over 2 fold in fresh tumor vs. distant normal mucosa from patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) negative for human papillomavirus (HPV)
Time frame: As long as needed to collect 15 HPV-negative tumor-mucosal sample pairs and complete sequencing, up to 10 years
SOLiD sequencing of fresh tumor-distant normal pairs will discover miRs whose expression is altered in HNSCC tumors. SOLiD sequencing will provide fully quantitative data for the expression of known and novel miRs. Because HPV-related tumors comprise approximately 20% of all HNSCC and are biologically distinct from HPV negative tumors classically associated with tobacco and alcohol, only HNSCC without p16 overexpression will be used in this discovery experiment. This restriction will increase homogeneity of the samples and the power to detect miRs associated with the etiology of HPV-negative HNSCC. The miRs identified will be validated using qPCR assay in the tumor-normal pairs and in p16-negative HNSCC cell lines (n>15). In addition, miRs previously reported to be dysregulated in HNSCC will be subjected to similar validation, even if not identified during the SOLiD sequencing discovery phase.
Identify miRs whose reduced expression in HPV-negative HNSCC is due to promoter methylation
Time frame: As long as needed to complete sequencing and analyze results, up to 5 years
miRs with reduced expression in tumor tissue identified under Outcome 1 will be scrutinized for CpG rich promoters by checking the UCSC database. The methylation status of CpG rich promoters of miRs will be examined by COBRA assay in tumor vs. normal pairs (n=15) and in p16-negative HNSCC cell lines (n>15). The heterogeneity of methylation status across the CpG rich promoter will be characterized by bisulfate sequencing using the COBRA PCR product. The silencing of miRs by promoter methylation will be examined by comparing mean miR expression levels between the methylation categories for the tumor-normal pairs and for the HNSCC cell lines. This is primarily a descriptive study.
Define the statistical association between the expression of tumor specific miRs, miR methylation, and the therapeutic response and prognosis of HPV-negative HNSCC using patient medical records
Time frame: As long as needed to collect and analyze information from medical records, up to 5 years
The therapeutic response and prognosis of HPV-negative HNSCC will be collected from two sources: the patient's case file from the New Mexico Tumor Registry (NMTR) and from the patient's UNMH medical record. qRT PCR will be designed to quantify the miR expression in RNA extracted from the formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissues. A methylation-specific PCR (MSP) will be designed to facilitate the large-scale methyl-typing in all retrospective clinical samples. The primary analysis will be performed in HPV-negative HNSCC. A secondary analysis will be conducted to include all HNSCC, with and without p16 overexpression. p16 overexpression status will be adjusted in the secondary analysis. The association between miR expression status (high or low) and miR methylation status (yes or no), and patient's PFS and OS will be examined using Kaplan-Meier survival plots and the log-rank test.
Results and safety
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 22 May 2025.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Garth Olson, MD principal investigator
University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma, run by New Mexico Cancer Research Alliance at 1 site in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 8 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 22 May 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Identify tumor specific microRNAs (miRs) whose expression increases or decreases by over 2 fold in fresh tumor vs. distant normal mucosa from patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) negative for human papillomavirus (HPV) (time frame: As long as needed to collect 15 HPV-negative tumor-mucosal sample pairs and complete sequencing, up to 10 years). The study lists 3 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 22 May 2025; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 8 Nov 2026.