Dr. Schoenfeld on Immunologic Effects of Chemotherapy and Radiation in Head and Neck Cancer

Jonathan D. Schoenfeld, MD, MPH, physician, assistant professor of Radiation Oncology, Harvard Medical School, Dana Farber Cancer Institute on the immunologic effects of chemotherapy and radiation in head and neck cancer.

Immune checkpoint blockage has demonstrated some exciting results in head and neck cancer, says Schoenfeld. However, that work has been largely done in metastatic head and neck cancer. Schoenfeld and his team studied the immunologic effects of chemotherapy and radiation, which are typically given in early-stage head and neck cancer.

What they found is the combination of chemotherapy and radiation, and in some cases radiation alone, led to immune effects not just in the site that was radiated, but also in markers in the peripheral blood.

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