Ipilimumab, Cetuximab, and Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Previously Untreated Stage III-IVB Head and Neck Cancer

Exclusion Criteria

• •Patients who have had prior chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery with curative intent for HNSCC
• •Patients with a history of prior treatment with ipilimumab, anti-programmed cell death 1 (PD 1) antibody, cluster of differentiation 137 (CD137) agonist or other immune activating therapy such as anti-cluster of differentiation 40 (CD 40) antibody
• •Patients who are receiving any other investigational agents
• •Autoimmune disease: patients with a history of inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, are excluded from this study, as are patients with a history of symptomatic non-gastrointestinal autoimmune disease (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, systemic progressive sclerosis \[scleroderma\], systemic lupus erythematosus, autoimmune vasculitis \[e.g., Wegener's granulomatosis\]); central nervous system (CNS) or motor neuropathy considered of autoimmune origin (e.g. Guillain-Barre syndrome and myasthenia gravis, multiple sclerosis)
• •Patients with known immunodeficiency disorder, or presumed to be unable to respond to anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA 4) monoclonal antibody (mAb)
• •Patients with distant metastatic disease (stage IVC)
• •History of allergic reactions attributed to compounds of similar chemical or biologic composition to cetuximab or ipilimumab
• •Patient is \< 2 years free from a second primary malignancy unless the other malignancy is non-melanomatous skin cancer or an in-situ tumor treated with curative intent
• •Uncontrolled intercurrent illness including, but not limited to, ongoing or active infection, symptomatic congestive heart failure, unstable angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, or psychiatric illness/social situations that would limit compliance with study requirements; patients with chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C infections are excluded
• •Pregnant women are excluded from this study
• •Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive patients on combination antiretroviral therapy are ineligible