Pilot Study of Raltegravir and Cisplatin in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck

The proposed study is a first-in-human pilot of a novel anti-cancer strategy: Metnase
inhibition to potentiate DNA damaging chemotherapy. The investigators will conduct serial
tumor biopsies in subjects with HNSCC at three timepoints: baseline, after cisplatin, and
after cisplatin-raltegravir. The investigators will investigate immunohistochemical
expression changes of γH2AX, Chk2, and Annexin V, three biomarkers of DNA damage and
apoptosis. The study is designed to identify an intermediate signal of the potentiation of
cisplatin chemotherapy by raltegravir in HNSCC, which will justify a future phase I/II
study.