Head & Neck Cancers

Innovative strategies are vital for patients diagnosed with rare cancers, who are frequently at a disadvantage compared with those who have more common malignancies, experts say.

Taofeek Owonikoko MD, PhD, MSCR, discusses the efficacy of selpercatinib in pre-treated and treatment-naive patients with RET fusion–positive medullary thyroid cancer.

Julie Ann Sosa, MD, MA, FACS, FSSO, discusses risk factors for thyroid cancer.

A biologics license application has been submitted to the FDA for the PD-1 monoclonal antibody penpulimab for the third-line treatment of patients with metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Eric M. Horwitz, MD, FABS, FASTRO, and Stephanie E. Weiss, MD, FASTRO, highlight ongoing research efforts with radiation therapy that are generating excitement at their institution.

The combination of the anti–PD-1 tislelizumab and chemotherapy was found to significantly improve progression-free survival compared with chemotherapy alone in the frontline treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal cancer, meeting the primary end point of the phase 3 RATIONALE 309 trial.

Cell-free methylated DNA immunoprecipitation-sequencing uses plasma cell-free methylomes to detect and classify several types of cancer early on, and provides the opportunity to monitor tumors for response to treatment in noninvasive way.

Thomas Urban Marron, MD, PhD, describes the patient population included in a phase 1 study examining the use of PGV-001, a neoantigen cancer vaccine, across different malignancies.

Ezra Cohen, MD, FRCPSC, FASCO, discusses future research directions for the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer.

Although the malignancy has an encouraging survival rate, it is necessary to be aware of the complexity of nasopharyngeal cancer.

Nabil F. Saba, MD, FACP, discusses some of the unique characteristics of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Innovative robotic technology helps to improve surgical outcomes and safety for patients while advancing the field of ENT surgery.

Thomas Urban Marron, MD, PhD, discusses primary objectives of a study examining the use of an adjuvant personalized neoantigen peptide vaccine in several malignancies.

The FDA has granted a fast track designation to the soluble LAG-3 protein eftilagimod alpha for use in the frontline treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

The FDA has approved a new biweekly dosing regimen of 500 mg/m2 as a 120-minute intravenous infusion for cetuximab (Erbitux) for patients with KRAS wild-type, EGFR-expressing colorectal cancer or squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Ezra Cohen, MD, FRCPSC, FASCO, discusses the goals of the phase 2 SPEARHEAD-2 trial in head and neck cancer.

Tipifarnib showed promising clinical activity in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic, HRAS-mutant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma whose disease had progressed after prior therapy.

The filing of a biologics license application has been initiated with the FDA for toripalimab for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

February 24, 2021 - The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to tipifarnib for use in patients with recurrent or metastatic HRAS-mutated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with variant allele frequency of 20% or higher following progressive disease on platinum-based chemotherapy.

ADP-A2M4CD8, a novel T-cell therapy, is being investigated in a range of tumor types that express MAGEA4, an antigen expressed in solid tumors that investigators say represents a promising target for cellular immunotherapy.

February 5, 2021 - Durvalumab failed to improve overall survival over the EXTREME chemotherapy regimen in the frontline treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with tumors expressed high levels of PD-L1, missing a primary end point of the phase 3 KESTREL trial.

Nabil F. Saba, MD, FACP, discusses the results of the JAVELIN Head and Neck 100 trial, as well as data from other key, recent studies in head and neck cancer.