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.

Dr. Ferris on the Safety Profile of Transoral Robotic Surgical Resection in Oropharynx Cancer

August 26th 2020

Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, discusses the safety profile of transoral robotic surgical resection in oropharynx cancer.

Dr. Saba on Scheduling Challenges With Cisplatin in Head and Neck Cancer

August 24th 2020

Nabil F. Saba, MD, FACP, discusses scheduling challenges with cisplatin in head and neck cancer.

Dr. Harrington on the KEYNOTE-048 Trial in Recurrent/Metastatic Head and Neck Cancer

August 20th 2020

Kevin Harrington, BSc, MBBS, PhD, MRCP, FRCP, FRCR, discusses the randomized phase 3 KEYNOTE-048 trial in recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Tipifarnib Exhibits Enriched Activity in HRAS-Mutant Head and Neck Cancer

August 20th 2020

Tipifarnib demonstrated encouraging antitumor activity in patients with recurrent and metastatic head and neck cancer with high HRAS-mutant variant allele frequency, surpassing historical competitors in the second- or later-line settings.

Dr. Saba on Emerging Sequencing Strategies in Head and Neck Cancer

August 19th 2020

Nabil F. Saba, MD, FACP, discusses emerging sequencing strategies in head and neck cancer.

Debio 1143 Significantly Boosts OS in High-Risk Head and Neck Cancer

August 13th 2020

Debio 1143 in combination with standard cisplatin-based concomitant fractionation chemoradiation therapy was found to induce a statistically and clinically significant improvement in overall survival compared with CRT alone in patients with high-risk locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

FDA Approval Sought for Pralsetinib in Advanced RET+ Thyroid Cancers

July 2nd 2020

A new drug application has been submitted to the FDA for pralsetinib (BLU-667) for the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer and RET fusion–positive thyroid cancers.

Marvels in Medicine: Vokes’s Venture to Bring Combined Modality Care to Patients With Cancer

June 22nd 2020

In our exclusive interview, Everett Vokes, MD, discusses the path that led him to specialize in head and neck cancer and lung cancer, personal and professional challenges he encountered along the way, and the ultimate importance of bringing multimodality therapy to the forefront of treatment.

FDA Expands Gardasil 9 Indication for Prevention of Select HPV-Related Head and Neck Cancers

June 15th 2020

The FDA has approved an expanded indication for Gardasil 9 for the prevention of oropharyngeal and other head and neck cancers caused by human papillomavirus types 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58.

FDA Approves Selpercatinib for RET+ NSCLC and Thyroid Cancers

May 9th 2020

The FDA has approved selpercatinib (LOXO-292) for the treatment of patients with advanced RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer, RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer, and RET fusion–positive thyroid cancer.

Investigators Seek to Supplant Oropharyngeal SOC With Proton Therapy

April 30th 2020

Hoping to minimize the off-target effects associated with radiation in patients with oropharyngeal cancer, investigators are testing the hypothesis that intensitymodulated proton therapy can deliver doses as effectively as the current standard of care with less damage to surrounding tissue.

Dr. Ferris on Ongoing Research With STING Agonists/Checkpoint Inhibitors in Head and Neck Cancer

April 30th 2020

Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, discusses ongoing research with STING agonists and checkpoint inhibitors in head and neck cancer.

Dr. Ferris on a Trial Testing ADU-S100/MIW815/Pembrolizumab in Head and Neck Cancer

April 28th 2020

Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, director of University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Hillman Cancer Center, Hillman Professor of Oncology, associate vice chancellor for cancer research, professor of otolaryngology, immunology, and radiation oncology, co-director, Tumor Microenvironment Center, UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, discusses a clinical trial testing ADU-S100/MIW815 plus pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in patients with head and neck cancer.

Dr. Burtness on the Effectiveness of Immunotherapy in Head and Neck Cancers

March 31st 2020

Barbara Burtness, MD, discusses the effectiveness of immunotherapy in patients with platinum-refractory head and neck cancers.

Frontline Avelumab Falls Short in Phase III Head and Neck Cancer Study

March 13th 2020

The phase III JAVELIN Head and Neck 100 trial has been terminated after an interim analysis showed that the addition of avelumab to standard-of-care chemoradiotherapy was unlikely to lead to a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival in patients with untreated locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

FDA Grants Breakthrough Designation to Debio 1143 in Frontline Head and Neck Cancer

February 27th 2020

The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to Debio 1143, an inhibitor of apoptosis protein antagonist, for the treatment of patients with previously untreated, unresectable, locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in combination with standard cisplatin-based concomitant fractionation chemoradiation therapy

Remote Monitoring Enhances Care for Patients With Head and Neck Cancer

February 21st 2020

If clinicians can identify complications earlier and take appropriate prophylactic or therapeutic measures, treatment plan adherence and outcomes may be improved for patients with head and neck cancer.

FDA Grants Priority Review to Selpercatinib for RET Fusion+ NSCLC and Thyroid Cancers

January 29th 2020

The FDA has granted a priority review designation to a new drug application for selpercatinib (LOXO-292) for the treatment of patients with advanced RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer, RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer, and RET fusion–positive thyroid cancer.

NICE Rejects Treatments for Head and Neck Cancer and AML

January 16th 2020

The United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has issued guidelines recommending against pembrolizumab for use in treatment-naïve patients with metastatic or unresectable recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma whose tumors express PD-L1 with a combined positive score of ≥1.

Frontline Pembrolizumab Regimens Receive Japanese Approval in Head and Neck Cancer

December 20th 2019

Japan's Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency has granted approval to frontline pembrolizumab as monotherapy and in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with recurrent or distant metastatic head and neck cancer.