Characteristics of immunotherapy trials for nasopharyngeal carcinoma over a 15-year period

Huageng Huang; Yuyi Yao; Xinyi Deng; Huawei Weng; Zegeng Chen; Le Yu; Zhao Wang; Xiaojie Fang; Huangming Hong; He Huang; Tongyu Lin

doi:10.3389/fimmu.2023.1195659

Characteristics of immunotherapy trials for nasopharyngeal carcinoma over a 15-year period

Front Immunol. 2023 Aug 9:14:1195659. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1195659. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Huageng Huang¹, Yuyi Yao¹, Xinyi Deng², Huawei Weng¹, Zegeng Chen¹, Le Yu³, Zhao Wang¹, Xiaojie Fang¹, Huangming Hong³, He Huang¹, Tongyu Lin^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Diagnosis and Therapy, Guangzhou, China.
² Department of Dermatology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China.
³ Department of Oncology, Senior Ward and Phase I Clinical Trial Ward, Sichuan Cancer Hospital and Institute, Sichuan Cancer Center, School of Medicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, China.

Abstract

Background: Immunotherapy has been a hotspot in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) in recent years. This study aimed to provide a comprehensive landscape of the characteristics of immunotherapy clinical trials in NPC and to determine whether contemporary studies are of sufficient quality to demonstrate therapeutic value.

Methods: This is a cross-sectional analysis of NPC trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov in the last 15 years (Jan 1, 2008-Nov 20, 2022). Only interventional trials with a primary purpose of treatment were included in the final analysis. Characteristics of immunotherapy trials were compared with those of other NPC trials. Chronological shifts in NPC immunotherapy trials were also analyzed.

Results: Of the 440 NPC studies selected, 161 (36.6%) were immunotherapy trials and 279 (63.4%) were other NPC trials. NPC immunotherapy trials were more likely than other NPC trials to be phase 1-2 (82.6% vs. 66.7%, P < 0.001), single-arm (51.3% vs. 39.6%, P = 0.020), non-randomized (64.8% vs. 44.4%, P < 0.001), and enroll fewer than 50 participants (46.3% vs. 34.4%, P = 0.015). Blinding was used in 8.8% of NPC immunotherapy trials. Also, 90.7% of NPC immunotherapy trials were recruited nationally and 82.6% were Asia-centric. Although academic institutions and governments (72.7%) were the major sponsors of NPC trials, immunotherapy trials were more likely to be industry-funded than other NPC trials (34.2% vs. 11.5%, P < 0.001). The number of NPC immunotherapy trials increased exponentially after 2017, attributed to the exploration of immune checkpoint inhibitors. Immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy was the most commonly investigated regimen.

Conclusion: NPC immunotherapy trials over a 15-year period were predominantly exploratory. To generate high-quality evidence and advance the clinical application of immunotherapy in NPC, more attention and concerted efforts are needed.

Keywords: Clinicaltrials.gov; clinical trial; immune checkpoint inhibitor; immunotherapy; nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Asia
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Immunotherapy*
Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma / therapy
Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms* / therapy

Grants and funding

This study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China-Science and Technology Development Fund, Macau SAR (No. 81661168011), and the Regional Innovation and Cooperation Project of Sichuan Province (No. 2021YFQ0037).