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.

Symptom Tracking System Reduces Severity in Patients With Head and Neck Cancer

May 17th 2018

Patients who used mobile and sensor technology to track their symptoms demonstrated reduced severity of their symptoms compared with patients who received standard care.

FDA Approves Dabrafenib/Trametinib Combo for BRAF+ Thyroid Cancer

May 4th 2018

The FDA has approved combination therapy with dabrafenib and trametinib for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic BRAF V600E–positive anaplastic thyroid cancer.

Lead Investigator Discusses Nivolumab Long-Term Survival Benefit in SCCHN

April 25th 2018

Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, discusses the implications of the updated findings from the phase III CheckMate-141 trial in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Dr. Duffield on Implications for Immunotherapy in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

April 21st 2018

Amy Duffield, MD, PhD, assistant professor of pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, member, Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, discusses the implications for immunotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Dr. Topalian on the Treatment of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

April 19th 2018

Suzanne L. Topalian, MD, director, Melanoma Program, professor of Surgery and Oncology, Johns Hopkins Medicine, discusses the treatment of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Dr. Ferris on the Updated Data from CheckMate-141 in Head and Neck Cancer

April 19th 2018

Robert Ferris, MD, PhD, vice chair for Clinical Operations, associate director for Translational Research, and co-leader of the Cancer Immunology Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, discusses the updated findings from the CheckMate-141 trial in head and neck cancer.

Nivolumab OS Benefit Sustained in Long-Term Follow-Up for SCCHN

April 17th 2018

Treatment with nivolumab reduced the risk of death by 32% compared with investigator’s choice of therapy for patients with metastatic or recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Dr. Subbiah on Safety and Efficacy of BLU-667 in RET-Altered Solid Tumors

April 16th 2018

Vivek Subbiah, MD, associate medical director, Clinical Center for Targeted Therapy, assistant professor, Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the safety and efficacy findings of BLU-667 in RET-altered solid tumors in an interview during the 2018 AACR Annual Meeting.

BLU-667 Shows Promise for Advanced Solid Tumors With RET Alterations

April 15th 2018

BLU-667, a next-generation tyrosine kinase inhibitor, appeared to be well-tolerated and had broad clinical benefit among patients with advanced, RET-altered solid tumors who progressed on prior therapies.

Fresh Focus on Second Primary Cancers

April 5th 2018

When investigators looked at roughly 150,000 cases of well-differentiated thyroid cancer using the SEER database of the National Cancer Institute, they knew that the use of radioactive iodine in conjunction with surgery and other treatments for thyroid cancer had increased dramatically over the years.

Dr. Bouvet Discusses Risk Factors for Thyroid Cancer

April 3rd 2018

Michael Bouvet, MD, professor of surgery, University of California, San Diego, discusses risk factors for thyroid cancer.

Nivolumab Active in Advanced Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

March 30th 2018

Nivolumab induced an overall response rate of 20.5% in patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).

Dr. Weiss Discusses the Impact of Immunotherapy on Head and Neck Cancer

March 30th 2018

Jared Weiss, MD, assistant professor, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the impact of immunotherapy in head and neck cancer.

Larotrectinib FDA Submission Completed for TRK Fusion Cancer

March 26th 2018

A rolling new drug application has been completed for larotrectinib (LOXO-101) for the treatment of adult and pediatric patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors harboring an NTRK gene fusion.

Dr. Mell on Individualizing Treatment for Head and Neck Cancer

March 23rd 2018

Loren K. Mell, MD, assistant professor, Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, discusses individualizing treatments for patients with head and neck cancer.

Dr. Sacco on Ongoing Trials for Chemoradiation in Head and Neck Cancer

March 21st 2018

Assuntina G. Sacco, MD, assistant professor of medicine, medical oncologist, UC San Diego Health, discusses ongoing trials investigating chemoradiation for patients with head and neck cancer.

No Benefit With Postoperative Chemoradiotherapy Versus RT Alone in HNSCC

March 19th 2018

The addition of weekly carboplatin following surgery and radiation therapy did not improve freedom from locoregional relapse in patients with high-risk cutaneous head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Dr. Lopes on Immunotherapy in Head and Neck Cancer

March 15th 2018

Gilberto Lopes Jr, MD, a medical director for International Programs at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, discusses the role of immunotherapy for patients with head and neck cancer.

FDA Halts Combo Trial of Axalimogene Filolisbac Plus Durvalumab

March 14th 2018

The FDA has put a clinical hold on a phase I/II study of axalimogene filolisbac plus durvalumab (Imfinzi) for the treatment of patients with cervical cancer or head and neck cancer.

Dr. Gold on Defining Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

March 10th 2018

Kathryn A. Gold, MD, medical oncologist, associate professor of medicine, UC San Diego Heath, differentiates carcinogen-induced and virally associated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.