Head & Neck Cancers

The FDA has granted LOXO-292 a breakthrough therapy designation for the treatment of patients with advanced RET fusion–positive thyroid cancer who require systemic therapy, have progressed on prior treatment, and have no other acceptable alternative treatment options.

Robert Ferris, MD, PhD, vice chair for Clinical Operations, associate director for Translational Research, and co-leader of the Cancer Immunology Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute discusses the significance of the CheckMate-041 trial for patients with head and neck cancer.

Missak Haigentz, MD, chief of Hematology and Oncology at Morristown Medical Center, medical director of Atlantic Hematology and Oncology for Atlantic Medical Group at the Carol G. Simon Cancer Center, discusses the impact that immunotherapy has had on the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer.

Farah Succaria, MD, postdoctoral fellow, Johns Hopkins Medicine, discusses targetable immune checkpoints in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

The FDA has granted LOXO-292 a breakthrough therapy designation for the treatment of patients with RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer or RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer.

In recent years, tyrosine kinase inhibitors that specifically target RET have entered the pipeline. Although none have yet received FDA approval, the promise of these agents has spurred interest in diagnostic assays.

Alexander E. Drilon, MD, discusses the data with LOXO-292 thus far and the promise for this agent in patients with RET alterations.

Investigators are evaluating the potential of LOXO-292, an oral small molecule inhibitor of RET signaling, to improve outcomes in patients with RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer, medullary thyroid cancer, and other tumors.

The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has recommended approval of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) for the treatment of adult patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma who progressed following platinum-based chemotherapy and have a PD-L1 tumor proportion score ≥50%.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) significantly improved overall survival compared with the standard frontline regimen of cetuximab (Erbitux) plus platinum chemotherapy and 5-FU in patients with recurrent or metastatic HNSCC.

Jed A. Katzel, MD, hematology, Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center, discusses why women with head and neck cancer are undertreated.

The combination of the CDK4/6 inhibitor palbociclib and cetuximab induced an overall response rate of 39% in patients with platinum-resistant, HPV-unrelated recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Suzanne L. Topalian, MD, director, Melanoma Program, professor of Surgery and Oncology, Johns Hopkins Medicine, discusses the immunosuppressive microenvironment of nasopharyngeal cancer.

Jed Katzel, MD, Hematology, Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center, discusses research presented at the 2018 ASCO Annual Meeting, which evaluated whether women are undertreated for head and neck cancer.

Waun K. Hong, MD, FACP, DMSc, division head, American Cancer Society Professor, Samsung Distinguished University Chair in Cancer Medicine, Department of Thoracic Head and Neck Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and 2018 Giant of Cancer Care® in Head and Neck Cancer, discusses advances in the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer.

Robert Ferris, MD, PhD, vice chair for Clinical Operations, associate director for Translational Research, and co-leader of the Cancer Immunology Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, discusses nivolumab (Opdivo) in the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer.

Lori J. Wirth, MD, associate professor, Medicine, Harvard Medical School, medical director, Center for Head and Neck Cancers, Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses the use of lenvatinib in hypertensive patients with thyroid cancer.

Lenvatinib added to pembrolizumab demonstrated promising activity in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in an ongoing open-label phase Ib/II clinical trial.

The highly-selective RET inhibitor LOXO-292 demonstrated robust clinical activity across RET-altered solid tumors, including in patients with brain metastases and the RET V804M gatekeeper mutation.

Women with head and neck cancer may be severely undertreated and have higher death rates compared with their male counterparts.