Palbociclib and cetuximab compared with placebo and cetuximab in platinum-resistant, cetuximab-na?ve, human papillomavirus-unrelated recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: A double-blind, randomized, phase 2 trial

Objectives: This study examined whether palbociclib and cetuximab prolonged overall survival (OS) versus placebo and cetuximab. Materials and methods: In this double-blind, randomized, phase 2 trial (PALATINUS), patients with platinumresistant, cetuximab-na?ve, human papillomavirus-unrelated recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamouscell carcinoma received cetuximab and either palbociclib (arm A) or placebo (arm B). The primary endpoint was OS; 120 patients were required to have ?80% power to detect a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.6 (median OS of 10 months in arm A and 6 months in arm B) using a one-sided, log-rank test (P = 0.10). Results: 125 patients were randomized (arm A: 65, arm B: 60). Median follow-up was 15.9 months (IQR, 11.3?22.7). Median OS was 9.7 months in arm A and 7.8 months in arm B (HR, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.54?1.25; P = 0.18). Median progression-free survival was 3.9 months in arm A and 4.6 months in arm B (HR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.67?1.5; P = 0.50). The most common treatment-related adverse events in arm A were rash (39 patients, 60.9%) and neutropenia (26, 40.6%; three febrile) and in arm B was rash (32, 53.3%). Conclusion: There was no significant difference in median OS with palbociclib and cetuximab versus placebo and cetuximab. Funding: Pfizer Inc (NCT02499120).

Automated summary

The study examined whether palbociclib and cetuximab prolonged overall survival compared to placebo and cetuximab. The results showed that there was no significant difference in median overall survival between the two groups, with median OS of 9.7 months and 7.8 months in the palbociclib group and placebo group respectively.