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.

Post-Hoc Analysis Shows Overall Impact of Avasopasem in Reducing Burden of Severe Oral Mucositis in Head and Neck Cancer

March 16th 2023

Avasopasem manganese provided an overall clinical benefit vs placebo in reducing the burden of severe oral mucositis in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer, according to a post-hoc generalized pairwise comparison analysis of the phase 3 ROMAN trial.

FDA Provides Guidance on Registrational Path for PDS0101 Triplet in HPV+, ICI-Refractory Head and Neck Cancer

February 27th 2023

The FDA has provided PDS Biotechnology Corporation with guidance on the required contents of a design for a potential registrational trial examining PDS0101 in combination with PDS0301 and an FDA-approved immune checkpoint inhibitor in patients with recurrent or metastatic human papillomavirus–positive, ICI-refractory head and neck cancer.

Toripalimab/Chemo Improves OS in Recurrent/Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma in Final JUPITER-02 Trial Analysis

February 15th 2023

Toripalimab plus gemcitabine and cisplatin demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in overall survival compared with chemotherapy alone as frontline therapy in patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

FDA Grants Priority Review to Avasopasem for Radiotherapy-Induced Severe Oral Mucositis

February 15th 2023

The FDA has granted priority review to the new drug application for avasopasem manganese as a treatment for radiotherapy-induced severe oral mucositis in patients with head and neck cancer undergoing standard-of-care treatment.

Docetaxel Added to Radiation Provides DFS, OS Benefit in Cisplatin-Ineligible HNSCC

February 2nd 2023

Radiation plus docetaxel improved disease-free survival and overall survival vs radiation alone in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma unsuitable for cisplatin-based chemoradiation, regardless of patients’ prespecified prognostic groups, according to findings from a phase 2/3 trial.

HPV, PD-L1 Move to the Forefront of Biomarkers for Head and Neck Cancers

January 4th 2023

HPV status has broad applicability across head and neck cancers, whereas the clinical utility of PD-L1 expression remains a more nuanced question.

Toripalimab Plus Chemotherapy BLA Remains Under FDA Review for Recurrent or Metastatic Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

January 3rd 2023

The FDA has not sent an action letter regarding the biologics license application for toripalimab in combination with chemotherapy as treatment for patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

PDS0101-Based Triplet Produces Prolonged OS in Refractory HPV+ Cancers

January 3rd 2023

Treatment with PDS0101 plus the tumor-targeting IL-12 fusion protein M9241 and bintrafusp alfa elicited encouraging overall survival data in patients with checkpoint inhibitor–naïve and –refractory advanced human papillomavirus–positive anal, cervical, head and neck, vaginal, and vulvar cancer.

PD-L1 Status Could Help Inform Patient Selection for IO-Based Therapy in HNSCC

December 15th 2022

Ranee Mehra, MD, discusses the significance of 5-year follow-up data and the subgroup analysis from KEYNOTE-048, the benefits and limitations of IO therapy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and research aiming to expand the role of IO combination regimens in this space.

FDA Approval Sought for Avasopasem for Radiotherapy-Induced Severe Oral Mucositis in Head and Neck Cancer

December 12th 2022

Galera Therapeutics, Inc. has submitted a new drug application to the FDA that is seeking the approval ofavasopasem manganese for radiotherapy-induced severe oral mucositis in patients with head and neck cancer who are undergoing standard treatment.

Berzosertib Plus Standard Chemoradiation Elicits Promising Responses in Locally Advanced HNSCC

November 30th 2022

Aarti Bhatia, MD, discusses the rationale for investigating berzosertib in this patient population, key updates from the phase 1 trial, and how these findings support the need for continued research of novel regimens in HNSCC.

Cabozantinib/Atezolizumab Elicits Durable, Tolerable Clinical Activity in Advanced HNSCC

November 29th 2022

The combination of cabozantinib and atezolizumab generated rapid and durable responses in patients with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma who received prior treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy.

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.