Purpose

This phase II trial tests how well nivolumab and ipilimumab immunotherapy with or without cabozantinib works in treating patients with nasopharyngeal cancer that has come back (after a period of improvement) (recurrent), has spread from where it first started (primary site) to other places in the body (metastatic), or for which no treatment is currently available (incurable). Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as nivolumab and ipilimumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Cabozantinib is in a class of medications called kinase inhibitors. It works by blocking the action of an abnormal protein that signals cancer cells to multiply. This helps slow or stop the spread of cancer cells. Giving immunotherapy with nivolumab and ipilimumab and targeted therapy with cabozantinib may help shrink and stabilize nasopharyngeal cancer.