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.

Montefiore Study May Help Establish Patient Criteria for Proton Therapy

May 21st 2019

In an effort to build more sophisticated protocols that keep QoL and cost questions at the forefront, Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care and Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Institute for Onco-Physics created a mathematical model to identify the optimal candidates for proton therapy, the most modern form of radiation therapy for patients with head and neck cancers.

Staging System for HPV-Related Oropharynx Cancer Paves Way for Change

May 13th 2019

A new staging system for head and neck cancers recognizes that patients with oropharyngeal malignancies associated with the human papillomavirus often have an excellent prognosis, but efforts to deintensify therapy for this population based on a fresh understanding of favorable risk factors may be premature.

Dr. Burtness on the Use of Biomarkers in Metastatic HNSCC

April 29th 2019

Barbara Burtness, MD, professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology) Disease Aligned Research Team Leader, Head and Neck Cancers Program co-director, Developmental Therapeutics Research Program of Yale Cancer Center, discusses the use of biomarkers in metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Fee-for-Service Unlikely to Disappear Soon

April 15th 2019

Fee-for-service tends to result in a surplus of care and unnecessary medical expense, but it probably won’t disappear from the landscape soon.

Dr. Mehanna on the Design of the De-ESCALaTE Trial in HPV+ Head and Neck Cancer

April 11th 2019

Hisham Mehanna, PhD, BMedSc, MBChB, FRCS, chair, Head and Neck Surgery, director, Institute of Head and Neck Studies and Education at the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Sciences, University of Birmingham, discusses the design of the De-ESCALaTE trial in patients with HPV-positive head and neck cancer.

Dr. Cohen on the Value of PFS as an Endpoint in Head and Neck Cancer

April 5th 2019

Ezra Cohen, MD, associate director, Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, discusses the value of progression-free survival (PFS) as an endpoint in head and neck cancer trials.

Dr. Burtness on Promise of Frontline Pembrolizumab in Metastatic HNSCC

March 30th 2019

Barbara Burtness, MD, professor of Medicine (Medical Oncology); Disease Aligned Research Team Leader, Head and Neck Cancers Program; co-director, Developmental Therapeutics Research Program; of Yale Cancer Center, discusses the promise of frontline pembrolizumab in the treatment of patients with metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

EU Panel Backs Extended Pembrolizumab Dosing Schedule for Single-Agent Indications

March 5th 2019

The European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has adopted a positive opinion for a new extended dosing schedule for pembrolizumab for all of the PD-1 inhibitor’s monotherapy indications in the European Union.

Dr. Mehanna on Goals of the Updated Staging System in HPV+ Head and Neck Cancer

February 27th 2019

Hisham Mehanna, PhD, BMedSc, MBChB, FRCS, chair, Head and Neck Surgery director, Institute of Head and Neck Studies and Education at the School of Cancer Studies, University of Birmingham, discusses goals of the updated staging system in HPV-positive head and neck cancer.

Dr. Cohen Discusses Research Questions in Head and Neck Cancer

February 22nd 2019

Ezra Cohen, MD, associate director, Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, discusses remaining questions regarding the use of immunotherapy in head and neck cancer that still need to be addressed.

Study Tests Preoperative Therapy for Easing Resection Burden in Rare Cancer

February 19th 2019

A recently launched clinical trial aims to improve outcomes and quality of life for patients with nasal and paranasal squamous cell carcinoma (NPNSCC), a rare type of head and neck cancer that is challenging to treat and carries significant morbidity.

FDA Grants Pembrolizumab Priority Review for Frontline HNSCC

February 11th 2019

The FDA has granted a priority review designation to a supplemental biologics license application for pembrolizumab (Keytruda) alone or in combination with platinum and 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Microbial Metabolomics: A Search for the Missing Link to Cancer

February 8th 2019

Thanks to technological advances, the past several decades have witnessed a blossoming appreciation of the varied composition of these microbial communities, their complex and dynamic relationship with the host, and the way they affect health and disease.

Dr. Katzel on Differences in Therapy Between Men and Women With Head and Neck Cancer

February 1st 2019

Jed A. Katzel, MD, Hematology, Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara Medical Center, discusses differences in treatment decisions between men and women with head and neck cancer.

Dr. Mehanna on Implications of the Updated Staging System for HPV+ Head and Neck Cancer

January 29th 2019

Hisham Mehanna, PhD, BMedSc, MBChB, FRCS, chair, Head and Neck Surgery director, Institute of Head and Neck Studies and Education at the School of Cancer Studies, University of Birmingham, discusses the implications of the updated staging system for patients with HPV-positive head and neck cancer.

Dr. Cohen Discusses Promise of Immunotherapy in Head and Neck Cancer

January 25th 2019

Ezra Cohen, MD, associate director, Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego, discusses the promise of immunotherapy in the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer.

IMvoke010 Trial to Assess Adjuvant Atezolizumab in SCCHN

December 22nd 2018

An ongoing randomized phase III study will compare the safety and efficacy of atezolizumab with placebo as adjuvant therapy after definitive local therapy in patients with high-risk, locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Cemiplimab Combo Falls Short Versus Anti–PD-1 Monotherapy in HNSCC

December 19th 2018

The PD-1 inhibitor cemiplimab in combination with radiotherapy, cyclophosphamide, and GM-CSF did not demonstrate efficacy superior to other PD-1 inhibitor monotherapies in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Real-World Findings Support Nivolumab Use in HNSCC

December 12th 2018

Nivolumab demonstrated durable response and overall survival rates in a real-world analysis of patients with platinum-refractory, recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Direct Targeting of RET Aberrations Moves Closer to the Clinic

December 11th 2018

Over the past 30 years, from the discovery of a fusion rearrangement to the recent promise of LOXO-292, RET targeting has gone from distant concept toward clinical reality.