Head and Neck CancerPhase 1NCT05327270
Non-randomized, Open-label Study of Intralesional Nivolumab for High Risk Oral Premalignant Lesions
A Phase 1 study testing Nivolumab in people with Head and Neck Cancer, run by M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at 1 site in United States.
Trial summary
To characterize the safety and tolerability of nivolumab injected intralesionally in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and older
- Conditions the study is for
- Head and Neck Cancer
- What is being tested?
- Nivolumab
- Type of treatment
- Pill or oral medicine, Injection or infusion
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 18 participants
- Where
- 1 siteUnited States
- Study dates
- 13 Sep 2022to 2 Feb 2027
- Phase
- Phase 1
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
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
Subject Inclusion Criteria:
In order to be eligible for this trial, the subject must:
- Presence of a treatment naïve, biopsy proven, intraoral premalignant lesion visible from oral cavity.
- Be willing and able to provide written informed consent for the trial.
- Be >/= 18 years of age on day of signing informed consent.
- Be willing to provide tissue, either archive or from a newly obtained oral biopsy.
- Have a performance status of 0-2 on the ECOG Performance Scale.
- Demonstrate adequate organ function as defined in Table 1 Table 1 Adequate Organ Function Laboratory Values Hematological Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) ≥1,000 /mcL Platelets ≥75,000 / mcL Hepatic Serum total bilirubin ≤ 1.5 X ULN OR Direct bilirubin ≤ ULN for subjects with total bilirubin levels > 1.5 ULN AST (SGOT) and ALT (SGPT) ≤ 2.5 X ULN
- Female subject of childbearing potential should have a negative urine or serum pregnancy test within 72 hours prior to receiving the first dose of study medication. If the urine test is positive or cannot be confirmed as negative, a serum pregnancy test will be required.
- Female subjects of childbearing potential should be willing to use 2 methods of birth control or be surgically sterile or abstain from heterosexual activity for the course of study therapy through 120 days after the last dose of Nivolumab. Subjects of childbearing potential are those who have not been surgically sterilized or have not been free from menses for > 1 year.
- Male subjects should agree to use an adequate method of contraception starting with the first dose of study therapy through 120 days after the last dose of study therapy.
Subject Exclusion Criteria:
The subject must be excluded from the trial if the subject:
- Is currently participating and receiving study therapy with potential anti-neoplastic activity or has participated in a study of an investigational agent and received study therapy with potential anti-neoplastic activity within 4 weeks of the first dose of treatment.
- Has a known history of active TB (Bacillus Tuberculosis)
- Hypersensitivity to nivolumab or any of its excipients.
- Has had a prior anti-cancer monoclonal antibody (mAb) within 4 weeks prior to study Day 1 or who has not recovered (i.e., ≤ Grade 2 or at baseline) from adverse events due to agents administered more than 4 weeks earlier.
- Has had prior chemotherapy, targeted small molecule therapy, or radiation therapy within 2 weeks prior to study Day 1 or who has not recovered (i.e., ≤ Grade 2 or at baseline) from adverse events due to a previously administered agent.
- Has a known additional malignancy that is progressing or requires active treatment other than adjuvant hormonal therapy. Exceptions include basal cell carcinoma of the skin or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin or in situ cervical cancer.
- Has known history of, or any evidence of active, non-infectious pneumonitis.
- Has an active infection requiring systemic therapy.
- Has a history or current evidence of any condition, therapy, or laboratory abnormality that might confound the results of the trial, interfere with the subject's participation for the full duration of the trial, or is not in the best interest of the subject to participate, in the opinion of the treating investigator.
- Has known psychiatric or substance abuse disorders that would interfere with cooperation with the requirements of the trial.
- Is pregnant or breastfeeding or expecting to conceive or father children within the projected duration of treatment with pembrolizumab, starting with the pre-screening or screening visit through 120 days after the last dose of trial treatment.
- Has received a live vaccine within 30 days of planned start of study therapy.
Note: Seasonal influenza vaccines for injection are generally inactivated flu vaccines and are allowed; however intranasal influenza vaccines (e.g., Flu-Mist®) are live
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country.
About this study
Official title: Pilot, Non-randomized, Open-label Study of Intralesional Nivolumab for High Risk Oral Premalignant Lesions
To characterize the safety and tolerability of nivolumab injected intralesionally in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions.
Read the detailed description
OBJECTIVES
Primary objective:
To characterize the safety and tolerability of nivolumab injected intralesionally in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions.
Secondary objectives:
To describe the objective response rate (ORR) in index lesions following intralesional injections of nivolumab in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions, according to modified World Health Organization (WHO) criteria.
To describe the pathologic complete response (CR) rate in index lesions following intralesional injections of nivolumab in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions.
To describe the major pathologic response rate in index lesions following intralesional injections of nivolumab in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions.
To evaluate systemic exposure of nivolumab following intralesional injections of nivolumab in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions.
To assess the immunogenicity of nivolumab in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions.
To establish a recommended dose of intralesional nivolumab for further study in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions.
- Conditions
- Head and Neck Cancer
- Being tested
- Nivolumab
- Medical subject headings
- Head and Neck Neoplasms
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
NivolumabDrug
Also called BMS-936558, Opdivo
Given by IT
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Nivolumab | Experimental | Nivolumab will be given as an injection directly into an oral lesion. Receives: Drug: Nivolumab |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
To evaluate the objective response rate (ORR) in index lesions following intralesional injections of nivolumab in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions, according to modified World Health Organization (WHO) criteria.
Measured: through study completion, an average of 1 year
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted14 Apr 2022
- Study start13 Sep 2022
- Primary completion2 Feb 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion2 Feb 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Head and Neck CancerStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by M.D. Anderson Cancer CenterThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- 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
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase 1
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 18 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Moran Amit, MD, Principal investigator, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05327270
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 2021-1011
- Other IDs
- NCI-2022-02940
- Status last verified
- Jun 2026
- First submitted
- 30 Mar 2022
- Last updated
- 12 Jun 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- Yes
- FDA-regulated device
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 12 Jun 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Pilot, Non-randomized, Open-label Study of Intralesional Nivolumab for High Risk Oral Premalignant Lesions
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05327270
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- 2021-1011
- Conditions
- Head and Neck Cancer
- Phase
- Phase 1
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Active, not recruiting
- Enrolment
- 18 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- M.D. Anderson Cancer CenterUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 13 Sep 2022 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 2 Feb 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 2 Feb 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 14 Apr 2022 (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.
To characterize the safety and tolerability of nivolumab injected intralesionally in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions.
Detailed description
OBJECTIVES
Primary objective:
To characterize the safety and tolerability of nivolumab injected intralesionally in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions.
Secondary objectives:
To describe the objective response rate (ORR) in index lesions following intralesional injections of nivolumab in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions, according to modified World Health Organization (WHO) criteria.
To describe the pathologic complete response (CR) rate in index lesions following intralesional injections of nivolumab in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions.
To describe the major pathologic response rate in index lesions following intralesional injections of nivolumab in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions.
To evaluate systemic exposure of nivolumab following intralesional injections of nivolumab in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions.
To assess the immunogenicity of nivolumab in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions.
To establish a recommended dose of intralesional nivolumab for further study in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 1
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Nivolumab | Experimental | Drug: NivolumabNivolumab will be given as an injection directly into an oral lesion. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
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 |
|---|---|---|
| NivolumabAlso: BMS-936558, OpdivoGiven by IT | Drug | Nivolumab |
Primary outcome
To evaluate the objective response rate (ORR) in index lesions following intralesional injections of nivolumab in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions, according to modified World Health Organization (WHO) criteria.
Time frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 12 Jun 2026.
- M D Anderson Cancer CenterLink provided by the sponsor.
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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.
Moran Amit, MD principal investigator
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A Phase 1 study testing Nivolumab in people with Head and Neck Cancer, run by M.D. Anderson Cancer Center 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?
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: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 12 Jun 2026. 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.
What does this phase mean?
Phase 1 studies test a treatment in a small group of people for the first time or in a new way, mainly to check safety and find the right dose.
Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
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?
To evaluate the objective response rate (ORR) in index lesions following intralesional injections of nivolumab in patients with high-risk oral premalignant lesions, according to modified World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. (time frame: through study completion, an average of 1 year). 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 12 Jun 2026.