Dan P. Zandberg, MD, on Personalized Immunotherapy for HNSCC: Progress Report
2024 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium
Dan P. Zandberg, MD, of UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, discusses study results showing that, although efficacy was low with both nivolumab plus ipilimumab and nivolumab plus relatlimab in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (HNSCC), selected patients had a numerically higher disease control rate, with a longer duration of stable disease (Abstract 4).
The ASCO Post Staff
Marcin R. Dzienis, MBBS, of Australia’s Gold Coast University Hospital, discusses the final analysis of KEYNOTE-B10, a phase IV study in which patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) received a first-line combination regimen of pembrolizumab plus carboplatin and paclitaxel. The regimen demonstrated durable antitumor activity, irrespective of patients’ PD-L1 status (Abstract 3).
The ASCO Post Staff
Pooja Karukonda, MD, of Duke University Medical Center, discusses findings from the PaRTNer study, which addressed the large financial burden faced by patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiotherapy, particularly older, non-White, female, and low-income patients. Dr. Karukonda discusses some ways to counter this adverse effect (Abstract 13).
The ASCO Post Staff
Eleni M. Rettig, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, discusses the promising but thus far limited data on using circulating tumor HPV DNA for early detection of HPV-related oropharyngeal cancers, which highlights the importance of developing a reliable biomarker (Poster Abstract 177).
The ASCO Post Staff
Evan M. Graboyes, MD, MPH, of the Medical University of South Carolina, discusses body image distress, a source of significant morbidity among head and neck cancer survivors. He recommends strategies to identify this side effect, the evidence for how best to treat, and best practices to help patients heal emotionally as well as physically.
The ASCO Post Staff
Samuel Regan, MD, and Benjamin Rosen, PhD, both of the University of Michigan, discuss results from a phase II trial showing the possibility of de-escalating chemoradiation treatment for patients with HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer, based on an FDG-PET imaging biomarker. The data suggest that patients may experience few locoregional recurrences and less toxicity (Abstract 16).
