Window of Opportunity Trial of Neoadjuvant ADXS 11-001 Vaccination Prior to Robot -Assisted Resection of HPV-Positive Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Some cancers may be related to an infection with a virus, such as the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV). HPV related Oropharyngeal cancer (HPVOPC) accounts for 80% of oropharynx cancer cases in the United States. HPVOPC has better prognosis than patients with HPV negative oropharynx cancer. In many hospitals, the standard of care treatment for oropharyngeal cancer is surgery and/or radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy. While chances of survival for most patients with HPVOPC is very good, current treatments are associated with short- and long-term side effects which can be severe. In pre-clinical research using animal models of cancer, vaccination targeting the HPV virus has been found to cause tumor regression. Thus, approaches which target the unique characteristics of HPV-infected cancer cells, such as therapeutic vaccination, are attractive strategies for potentially reducing radiotherapy and chemo radiotherapy regimens (and thus decreasing toxicity) and enhancing long-term disease control. The purpose of this study is to see if an experimental vaccine, ADXS11-001, is effective in stimulating the body's defense system against HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma before transoral (through the mouth) surgery. The experimental product ADXS11-001 uses a live strain of the Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) bacteria that has been genetically modified such that the risk of getting an infection is significantly reduced. Several research studies have already been conducted with ADXS11-001 in men and women with cancer. So far, approximately 722 doses of ADXS11-001 have been given to 290 patients with HPV associated cancers.