Head & Neck Cancers | Specialty

The OncLive Head and Neck Cancer condition center page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and expert insights on treatment for patients with head and neck cancer. This page features news articles, interviews in written and video format, and podcasts that focus on unmet needs, treatment advances, and ongoing research within head and neck cancer.

Clinical Trials Propel New Standards of Care for Thyroid Cancer

November 12th 2022

Alan L. Ho, MD, PhD, discusses targeted therapies such as TKIs that have demonstrated promising efficacy in multiple patient populations as well as the agents lenvatinib and pembrolizumab.

Pembrolizumab/Cabozantinib Combo Shows Promising Clinical Benefit in Recurrent Metastatic HNSCC

November 9th 2022

Nabil F. Saba, MD, FACP, expanded on efficacy data from a phase 2 trial investigating pembrolizumab plus cabozantinib in patients with recurrent metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and current challenges and safety concerns in selecting patients for evaluation.

Pembrolizumab Plus Cabozantinib Improves ORR in Recurrent/Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

November 8th 2022

A doublet regimen comprised of pembrolizumab and cabozantinib elicited encouraging responses in patients with recurrent metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, meeting the primary end point of a phase 2 trial.

Dr. Bourhis on the OS Benefit of Xevinapant Plus Chemoradiotherapy in HNSCC

October 28th 2022

Jean Bourhis, MD, PhD, discusses the overall survival benefit of xevinapant plus chemoradiotherapy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Chemoimmunotherapy Combo Elicits Encouraging Responses in Relapsed High-Risk Neuroblastoma

October 25th 2022

The 4-drug combination of irinotecan, temozolomide, dinutuximab, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor elicited objective responses in almost half of patients with high-risk neuroblastoma.

Adjuvant Capecitabine Following Concurrent CRT Improves Failure-Free Survival in High-Risk Locally Advanced Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

October 25th 2022

Treatment with adjuvant capecitabine following concurrent chemoradiotherapy resulted in superior failure-free survival compared with observation and CRT for patients with locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma carrying at least 2 high risk factors.

Cemiplimab Monotherapy Continues to Generate Responses in Locally Advanced or Metastatic CSCC

October 25th 2022

Single-agent cemiplimab demonstrated safety and efficacy in patients with locally advanced or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma who comprised group 6 of the phase 2 EMPOWER-CSCC-1 trial that was in line with what was previously reported in groups 1, 2, and 3 of the study.

Xevinapant Plus Chemoradiotherapy Improves OS in Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

October 22nd 2022

Xevinapant plus chemoradiotherapy more than halved the risk of death vs placebo plus chemoradiotherapy without increasing toxicity in patients with unresectable, locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

177Lu-FAP-2286 Displays Preliminary Antitumor Activity in Advanced or Metastatic Solid Tumors

October 18th 2022

Lutetium-177-FAP-2286 produced preliminary evidence of antitumor activity with a manageable safety profile in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors, according to data from the phase 1/2 LuMIERE trial.

Pembrolizumab Confers Long-Term OS Benefit in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

October 17th 2022

Pembrolizumab, alone and in combination with chemotherapy, maintained an overall survival benefit compared with cetuximab plus chemotherapy for patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma at 4 years.

Dr. Saba on Disparities of Clinical Trials in Head and Neck Cancer

October 6th 2022

Nabil Saba, MD, FACP, discusses the disparities seen in clinical trials in head and neck cancer.

CUE-101 Gets Fast Tracked for Recurrent/Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

October 5th 2022

The FDA has granted a fast track designation to CUE-101 for use as a monotherapy and in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with human papillomavirus recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

PDS0101 Plus Pembrolizumab Under Further Evaluation in HPV16+ HNSCC

October 4th 2022

The FDA has agreed on key elements of the clinical program to support the biologic license application for the combination of PDS0101 and pembrolizumab for the treatment of unresectable, recurrent/metastatic HPV16-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

FDA Grants Fast Track Designation to Ficlatuzumab for Relapsed or Recurrent HNSCC

September 23rd 2022

The FDA has granted a fast track designation to ficlatuzumab for the treatment of patients with relapsed or recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Lenvatinib/Pembrolizumab Combo Proves Safe, Effective for Metastasized Anaplastic and Poorly Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma

September 13th 2022

The combination of lenvatinib and pembrolizumab was found to induce high response rates, including long-lasting remissions, and have acceptable safety in patients with metastasized anaplastic thyroid carcinoma and poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma.

Pembrolizumab Plus Chemoradiation Shows Only Numerically Improved EFS, OS in Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

September 11th 2022

Pembrolizumab plus chemoradiation failed to demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in event-free survival vs chemoradiation alone in patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Xevinapant Plus Standard Chemoradiotherapy Demonstrates Sustained Benefit in Locally Advanced HNSCC

September 11th 2022

The addition of xevinapant to standard-of-care chemoradiotherapy elicited continued 5-year overall survival and 3-year duration of response benefits in patients with unresected head and neck locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma.

New Cancer Study Results Confirm Lasting Effects on 9/11 First Responders

August 5th 2022

Research investigating the physical and mental health consequences of being at the World Trade Center site during and after the terrorist attacks has been instrumental in obtaining health care coverage for thousands of individuals.

INTERLINK-1 Trial Terminated Following Failed Futility Analysis of Monalizumab/Cetuximab in Head and Neck Cancer

August 1st 2022

The phase 3 INTERLINK-1 trial was discontinued after monalizumab plus cetuximab failed to meet a predefined threshold for efficacy compared with cetuximab alone in patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

IRX-2 Immunotherapy Misses EFS End Point in Newly Diagnosed Head and Neck Cancer

July 27th 2022

IRX-2 failed to demonstrate a statistically significant improvement in event-free survival as neoadjuvant therapy compared with standard of care in patients with newly diagnosed, stage II, III, or IVA squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity.