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Positron-emission tomography (PET) scans obtained before and midway through treatment may be used to de-escalate therapy for patients with oropharyngeal cancer, leading to fewer side effects, according to data presented at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.1 An interim...
A blood-basedliquid biopsy may accurately predict recurrence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-driven oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma following treatment, according to data presented at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.1 Results of the large, multi-institutional study...
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Li et al found that induction chemotherapy with paclitaxel, cisplatin, and capecitabine (TPC) prior to concurrent chemoradiation was associated with improved failure-free survival vs induction therapy with cisplatin and fluorouracil (PF) in...
Gary Walker, MD, MPH, MS, a head and neck radiation oncologist at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, Arizona, expressed concern about the disparities identified in the adoption of advanced radiation therapy techniques for patients with head and neck cancer. “Despite widespread availability of...
Advanced radiotherapy techniques may reduce the risk of severe and debilitating toxicity associated with radiation, but not all patients have equal access to these modalities, according to data presented at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.1 Retrospective analysis of the...
The addition of the checkpoint inhibitor tislelizumab to first-line chemotherapy significantly reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 50% and, despite a 49% crossover rate, numerically boosted overall survival in patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal cancer, Zhang et al...
Head and neck cancer is the seventh most common cancer in the world, with 1.1 million new diagnoses reported annually.1 In the United States, the incidence of oral and pharyngeal cancers is over 54,000 cases per year, resulting in over 11,000 yearly deaths.2 Although smoking and alcohol consumption ...
ASCO has endorsed the recommendations put forth in a new guideline, developed by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), on the use of radiation therapy for the management of brain metastases.1,2 Although ASTRO—in conjunction with ASCO and the Society for Neuro-Oncology (SNO)—recently...
In a phase II trial (Alliance A091404) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ho et al found that enzalutamide showed some activity in advanced androgen receptor–positive salivary gland cancer but failed to meet the predefined criterion for a successful strategy. Study Details In the...
Patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head or neck were 93% less likely to die of any cause during the first 3 years after diagnosis if they ate a healthy diet high in nutrients found to deter chronic disease, according to results published by Vieytes et al in Frontiers in Nutrition. The...
In a single-institution retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery, Alkhatib et al found a higher rate of response to immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment among patients with histologic high-grade vs low-grade recurrent or metastatic mucosal head and neck...
In an analysis from the Human Papillomavirus Cancer Cohort Consortium (HPVC3) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Robbins et al found substantial risks of oropharyngeal cancer over time among persons, particularly males, with positive results on human papillomavirus (HPV) 16-E6 serologic...
Hispanic and Black men are dying from human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated throat cancer at a higher rate than White men, and most new cases being diagnosed in non-Hispanic White men are late-stage disease, according to a new study published by Villalona et al in the Annals of Cancer ...
In an analysis of the KEYNOTE-048 trial reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Yu et al identified outcomes with pembrolizumab alone or combined with chemotherapy vs cetuximab plus chemotherapy in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with a low or...
Nabil F. Saba, MD, of Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, discusses new data from a trial of pembrolizumab and cabozantinib in patients with recurrent metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The study met its primary endpoint of overall response rate. The regimen was well tolerated and exhibited encouraging clinical activity in this patient population (Abstract 6008).
Sue S. Yom, MD, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco, discusses a translational analysis from the NRG-HN002 study. This phase II trial established the feasibility of the tumor tissue–modified viral (TTMV) human papillomavirus DNA assay in clinical trial specimens. The goal is to use such an assay to measure tumor volume, levels of TTMV over the course of treatment, and the association of TTMV to treatment outcomes (Abstract 6006).
Carryn M. Anderson, MD, of the University of Iowa Hospital, discusses phase III results of the ROMAN trial of avasopasem manganese for patients with severe oral mucositis who are receiving chemoradiotherapy for locally advanced, nonmetastatic head and neck cancer. Compared with placebo, avasopasem manganese improved severe oral mucositis (Abstract 6005).
Patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiation therapy may be less likely to require opioids or a feeding tube if they received a higher dose of prophylactic gabapentin before their treatment, findings from a team of radiation oncologists showed. Their report, published by Ma et al in JAMA ...
As reported in JAMA Oncology by David Palma, MD, PhD, and colleagues, enrollment in the phase II ORATOR2 trial, which was designed to evaluate overall survival after de-escalated treatment with primary radiotherapy vs transoral surgery in human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal squamous...
The addition of the checkpoint inhibitor tislelizumab to first-line chemotherapy significantly reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 50% and, despite a 49% crossover rate, numerically boosted overall survival in patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal cancer, Zhang et al...
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Kana et al found that changes to Medicaid dental benefits in California from comprehensive to emergency services—and then back to comprehensive—were associated with reduced, then increased, percentages of cases of oral cavity cancer...
In a UK observational cohort study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Price et al found that pretreatment absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) was associated with overall survival and predictive of benefit of the addition of cisplatin to radiotherapy in patients with oropharyngeal squamous...
Gary Walker, MD, MPH, MS, a head and neck radiation oncologist at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, Arizona, expressed concern about the disparities identified in the adoption of advanced radiation therapy techniques for patients with head and neck cancer. “Despite widespread availability of...
Advanced radiotherapy techniques may reduce the risk of severe and debilitating toxicity associated with radiation, but not all patients have equal access to these modalities, according to data presented at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.1 Retrospective analysis of the...
In a post hoc analysis of the KEYNOTE-048 trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Barbara Burtness, MD, and colleagues found that survival results with pembrolizumab and pembrolizumab/chemotherapy vs cetuximab/chemotherapy in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous...
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in JAMA Oncology, Li et al found that induction chemotherapy with paclitaxel, cisplatin, and capecitabine (TPC) prior to concurrent chemoradiation was associated with improved failure-free survival vs induction therapy with cisplatin and fluorouracil (PF) in...
A blood-basedliquid biopsy may accurately predict recurrence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-driven oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma following treatment, according to data presented at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.1 Results of the large, multi-institutional study...
Positron-emission tomography (PET) scans obtained before and midway through treatment may be used to de-escalate therapy for patients with oropharyngeal cancer, leading to fewer side effects, according to data presented at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium.1 An interim...
Elizabeth D. Cash, PhD, of the University of Louisville, discusses depression among patients with head and neck cancer, the impact it can have on prognosis, and the importance of helping patients cope through screening for depressive symptoms and treatment with collaborative care models.
Michelle Mierzwa, MD, of the University of Michigan, discusses early findings from a phase II trial of FDG-PET (fluorodeoxyglucose–positron-emission tomography) de-escalated radiotherapy for patients with p16-positive orophyaryngeal cancer. An interim analysis suggests that for approximately half of patients with stage I or II disease, this type of treatment may decrease toxicity and improve quality of life.
David S. Hong, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses results from a phase II cohort, which suggest favorable antitumor activity with tisotumab vedotin-tftv in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that has progressed after treatment with a platinum-containing regimen. Additional research is warranted, says Dr. Hong, in the second-line setting as well as in treatment-naive patients in combinations with pembrolizumab and carboplatin.
Peter Zeng, MD/PhD Candidate, at Ontario’s Western University, discusses a three-gene prognostic classifier tool, known as UWO3, which was validated in six external cohorts and shown to identify patients with human papillomavirus–related head and neck cancer that is likely to recur following aggressive radiation de-escalation.
Nancy Lee, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses results from the 30ROC trial, which showed that intratreatment FMISO [(18)F-fluoromisonidazole] PET response could identify patients with human papillomavirus–positive oropharyngeal carcinoma who may be sensitive to radiation therapy. Based on this information, researchers were able to de-escalate radiotherapy to 30 Gy from the standard 70 Gy, in the setting of chemotherapy (Keynote II).
Glenn J. Hanna, MD, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, discusses findings that show human papillomavirus circulating tumor DNA (HPV ctDNA) may be useful as part of surveillance monitoring of patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Dr. Hanna reports that 93% of patients who had no clinical evidence of disease developed a positive HPV ctDNA test during surveillance follow-up and subsequently had confirmed disease recurrence.
In a Japanese phase II/III trial (JCOG1008) reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Kiyota et al found that overall survival with once-weekly cisplatin in postoperative chemoradiation was noninferior to every-3-week cisplatin for patients with high-risk locally advanced squamous cell...
In a Chinese phase III trial reported in The Lancet Oncology, Tang et al found that elective upper-neck irradiation sparing the uninvolved neck was noninferior in regional relapse–free survival vs standard whole-neck irradiation in previously untreated patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Study...
Advanced radiotherapy techniques can reduce the risk of severe and debilitating toxicity associated with radiation, but not all patients have equal access to these modalities, according to data presented by Neal S. McCall, MD, at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium (Abstract...
Positron-emission tomography (PET) scans obtained before and midway through treatment can be used to de-escalate therapy for oropharyngeal cancer, potentially leading to fewer short-term side effects, according to data presented by Allen et al at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers...
Phillip Pifer, MD, PhD, of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, discusses findings that suggest focal adhesion kinase is a potentially important target for therapeutic sensitization in patients with mutant TP53 HPV-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
A large, multi-institutional study demonstrated that a blood test to detect circulating tumor DNA may accurately predict recurrence of human papillomavirus (HPV)-driven oropharyngeal cancer following treatment. Results also indicated that the biomarker test may detect recurrent disease earlier than ...
In a single-center retrospective cohort study reported in JAMA Oncology, C. Jillian Tsai, MD, PhD, and colleagues found that a systematic approach of reducing radiotherapy dose and target volume to elective treatment regions was associated with a high rate of locoregional control in patients with...
In a Chinese phase II trial reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Li et al found that treatment with two cycles of concurrent cisplatin and intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) was noninferior to three cycles in progression-free survival and associated with reduced toxicity in patients...
Researchers have found that disparities in the incidence of head and neck cancer are driven by behavioral and environmental risk factors rather than race. They demonstrated this in the first-ever study to compare head and neck cancer incidence in Black patients in the United States, the Caribbean,...
Mehmet Altan, MD, of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses findings from a phase Ib dose-escalation study, which showed early evidence of activity for NKTR-255, an investigational IL-15 receptor agonist, plus cetuximab in patients with solid tumors. Treatment appeared to lead to expansion and proliferation of NK and CD8+ cells (Abstract 957).
A team of scientists has used artificial intelligence (AI) to identify which patients with certain head and neck cancers may benefit from reducing the intensity of treatments such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Their findings were published by Corredor et al in the Journal of the National...
Oropharyngeal cancer incidence among men is continuing to rise rapidly in nearly all 50 U.S. states and among women living in states in the Midwest and Southeast regions, according to a new study published by Damgacioglu et al in JAMA Otolaryngology–Head & Neck Surgery. In addition, the...
In an Indian single-institution phase II study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Chaukar et al found that neoadjuvant chemotherapy was associated with mandibular preservation in approximately half of previously untreated patients undergoing surgery for squamous cell carcinoma of the...
As reported in The Lancet by Jong-Mu Sun, MD, of Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, and colleagues, an interim analysis in the phase III KEYNOTE-590 trial has shown that the addition of first-line pembrolizumab to chemotherapy resulted in improved overall and progression-free...
In the treatment of patients with human papillomavirus (HPV)-related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, neither cancer outcomes nor measurable quality of life have yet been shown to differ between surgery- and radiotherapy-based approaches, according to Sue S. Yom, MD, PhD, FASTRO, Professor of ...
The management of recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck cancer is complex. Historically, patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck with local or regional recurrence were considered for salvage surgery or reirradiation (in high-volume centers or centers of expertise), with an...