Squamous cell carcinoma is the second most common skin cancer, affecting more than one million Americans each year. Most cases are cured with surgery or radiation, but a small percentage spread to other parts of the body. Advanced disease now has treatment options that didn't exist a decade ago.
What's actually going on in research
Trials are testing checkpoint inhibitors like pembrolizumab and cemiplimab, which help the immune system recognize cancer cells. Researchers are also studying combinations of immunotherapy with targeted drugs, earlier use of these treatments in high-risk local disease, and ways to identify which tumors are most likely to respond. For cutaneous disease, prevention studies are exploring ways to reduce risk in organ transplant recipients and others at high risk.
Checkpoint inhibitors
Drugs like pembrolizumab and cemiplimab block PD-1, allowing T cells to attack cancer. Both are FDA-approved for advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma and are being tested in earlier stages.
Combination strategies
Trials are pairing checkpoint inhibitors with targeted drugs or other immunotherapies to improve response rates. Some are testing whether adding drugs that target specific mutations makes treatment work better.
Adjuvant treatment
Studies are testing whether immunotherapy after surgery can prevent recurrence in high-risk cases. This mirrors approaches that have worked in melanoma and other cancers.
What to know before you search
Eligibility typically depends on whether the cancer has spread, prior treatments, tumor characteristics like size and location, and overall health status.
What types of trials are currently open
- Immunotherapy trials — Testing checkpoint inhibitors alone or in combination for advanced or metastatic disease. Some compare different immunotherapy drugs or test them in earlier stages.
- Targeted therapy trials — Testing drugs aimed at specific mutations found in some squamous cell carcinomas, often in combination with immunotherapy.
- Adjuvant trials — Testing whether treatment after surgery can prevent cancer from coming back in people at high risk of recurrence.
- Prevention trials — Testing ways to prevent new skin cancers in people at high risk, including organ transplant recipients and those with previous skin cancers.
- Radiation trials — Testing different radiation approaches or combinations of radiation with immunotherapy for local or regional disease.
Recently added Squamous Cell Carcinoma trials
Evaluating Photodynamic Therapy Used to Treat Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma in Situ (isSCC) on the Face, Upper Extremities & Trunk.
The goal of this clinical trial is to test how safe and effective it is to treat early form of cancer cells found in the upper skin layer of the face, upper extremities and trunk, using a light sensitive cream used in combination with a light source. The main questions this trial aims to answer are: * to confirm using laboratory testing, how much of the affected skin cancer section the treatment was able to remove, and; * seeing how many participants had no remaining affected skin cancer sections after treatment. Participants who qualify will be asked to complete 12 visits in total and will receive a total of two treatments, after voluntarily consent has been given.
A Study of Retifanlimab After Chemoradiation in People With Anal Cancer
Participants will receive retifanlimab during 28-day treatment Cycles and will continue to receive retifanlimab for up to 6 Cycles (up to 12 Cycles with study doctor approval) unless the participant's cancer comes back, have serious side effects and cannot continue study treatment, or the study doctor thinks it is in the participant's best interest to stop.
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