Dr Patel on the Efficacy of ADT Plus Pembrolizumab in Salivary Gland Cancer

“In this patient population, there was a 27.7% [confirmed] overall response rate. In most patients, there were decreases in tumor burden after we administered this therapy. There was a signal of efficacy.”

Manish Patel, DO, a medical oncologist at the University of Minnesota Health and an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation in the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School, discussed efficacy findings from the phase 2 BTCRC HN17-111 trial (NCT03942653) evaluating androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) plus pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of patients with advanced-stage, androgen receptor–positive salivary gland cancer.

Notably, these findings were presented at the 2026 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium. Patel highlighted that the study demonstrated a 27.7% confirmed objective response rate among efficacy-evaluable patients (n = 18), noting that most patients experienced a significant decrease in tumor burden following the administration of ADT plus pembrolizumab. Four patients achieved an unconfirmed partial response. He emphasized that for the 5 patients who achieved confirmed responses, the clinical benefits were notably durable, and 3 of those patients have not experienced disease progression, even after the cessation of active treatment.

Furthermore, Patel explained that the disease control rate reached 78%, noting that most patients maintained stable disease for a period exceeding 3 months after initiating the regimen. He stressed that these findings represent a clear signal of therapeutic efficacy within the study population.

Additional efficacy findings showed that the median duration of response was 12.1 months (95% CI, 8.3-21.4), the median progression-free survival (PFS) was 8.7 months (95% CI, 1.01-22.5), and the 1-year PFS rate was 35% (95% CI, 15%-56%). Furthermore, the median overall survival (OS) was 19.4 months (95% CI, 8.5-34.5), and the 1-year OS rate was 73% (95% CI, 47%-88%).

Disclosures: Patel reported that the study was funded by Merck, Sharpe and Dohme and supported by TerSera Therapeutics, LLC. Patel’s disclosures unrelated to this study include receiving research funding/consultant fees from AstraZeneca and serving on the Bayer advisory board.