eligibility_summary
Adults (>18) with histologically confirmed head/neck SCC. Oropharynx: HPV− by p16/HPV-DNA, or HPV+ by p16 with >10 pack-yr smoking. Candidates for curative surgery, definitive RT, or chemoradiation. Must have tumor for 2–3 core research biopsies (baseline, and post-therapy if receiving RT±chemo). Adequate organ function (labs ≤28d). Exclude nasopharyngeal, advanced cutaneous H&N SCC, salivary tumors, uncontrolled illness, recent (≤4–8wk) therapy/surgery, other trials, allergy to imatinib/CTX.
trial_source
clinical_trials.gov from Dec 2, 2025
annotation_status
ai
ai_summary
Early-phase, single-arm “window” study in HNSCC testing cetuximab plus imatinib. Cetuximab: chimeric IgG1 monoclonal antibody targeting EGFR (ERBB1), blocks ligand binding/dimerization, inhibits downstream MAPK/PI3K-AKT signaling, and induces Fcγ-mediated ADCC by NK cells. Imatinib: oral small-molecule tyrosine kinase inhibitor of ABL, PDGFR, and KIT, intended to suppress parallel/bypass RTK and tumor–stroma signaling that can undermine EGFR inhibition. Targets/pathways: EGFR on squamous tumor cells, PDGFR/KIT/ABL signaling in tumor and microenvironment, downstream proliferative/survival pathways (MAPK, PI3K/AKT), innate immune effectors via ADCC. Biomarker focus: tumor AXL (TAM-family RTK linked to cetuximab resistance), trial correlates pre/post-treatment AXL levels with response to the combination.