Safety and Efficacy of Ruxolitinib in Patients With HNSCC and High NLR Treated With Pembrolizumab - The Phase 2 InflammaSTOP Trial

The goal of this Phase 2 clinical trial is to learn if adding ruxolitinib to pembrolizumab may improve treatment outcomes in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) who have increased levels of systemic inflammation before treatment, as measured by the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR). The investigational drug will be used outside of its approved indication (off-label use) based on its known pharmacologic mechanism and prior clinical experience in patients with myeloproliferative neoplasms and graft-versus-host disease. The main questions it aims to answer are: Is treatment with ruxolitinib in combination with pembrolizumab safe and well tolerated? Can the addition of ruxolitinib improve treatment outcomes compared with historical data? How does ruxolitinib affect the immune system and inflammation when given together with pembrolizumab? How does the combination treatment affect patients' quality of life? Participants will: Receive treatment with pembrolizumab and intermittent ruxolitinib. Undergo blood tests to assess immune responses and inflammation. Attend study visits for safety assessments and treatment monitoring. Complete quality-of-life questionnaires, where applicable. The results of this study will help researchers better understand how inflammation and the body's immune system affect treatment outcomes in people with head and neck cancer. The findings may also help improve the design of future studies investigating new treatment combinations for this disease.