Head & Neck Cancers

Investigators are testing tipifarnib, a novel drug that inhibits a critical enzyme needed for HRAS activation, in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma whose tumors harbor the mutation.

Heavily pretreated patients with unresectable recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cancer experienced an improvement in survival following treatment with axitinib.

Ezra Cohen, MD, FRCPSC, FASCO, discusses the design of the phase 2 SPEARHEAD-2 trial with ADP-A2M4 plus pembrolizumab in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute has launched the Center for Salivary and Rare Head and Neck Cancers to treat patients with rare and occasionally aggressive cancers arising from the head and neck.

Yale Cancer Center researchers were awarded a five-year, $11.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to fund the Yale Head and Neck Cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence.

Potent and durable clinical activity was shown with pralsetinib as treatment of patients with RET-mutant advanced medullary thyroid cancer, regardless of the line of therapy.

Three-year follow-up data for the phase 2 study of the first-in-class inhibitor of apoptosis protein antagonist, xevinapant, in combination with standard cisplatin-based concomitant fractionation chemoradiation therapy reduced the risk of mortality by half compared with CRT alone in patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

The FDA has granted pralsetinib a priority review for the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer and RET fusion–positive thyroid cancer.

Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, discusses the safety profile of transoral robotic surgical resection in oropharynx cancer.

Nabil F. Saba, MD, FACP, discusses ​scheduling challenges with cisplatin in head and neck cancer.

Tipifarnib demonstrated encouraging antitumor activity in patients with recurrent and metastatic head and neck cancer with high HRAS-mutant variant allele frequency, surpassing historical competitors in the second- or later-line settings.

Debio 1143 in combination with standard cisplatin-based concomitant fractionation chemoradiation therapy was found to induce a statistically and clinically significant improvement in overall survival compared with CRT alone in patients with high-risk locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

A new drug application has been submitted to the FDA for pralsetinib (BLU-667) for the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer and RET fusion–positive thyroid cancers.

In our exclusive interview, Everett Vokes, MD, discusses the path that led him to specialize in head and neck cancer and lung cancer, personal and professional challenges he encountered along the way, and the ultimate importance of bringing multimodality therapy to the forefront of treatment.

The FDA has approved an expanded indication for Gardasil 9 for the prevention of oropharyngeal and other head and neck cancers caused by human papillomavirus types 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58.

The FDA has approved selpercatinib (LOXO-292) for the treatment of patients with advanced RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer, RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer, and RET fusion–positive thyroid cancer.

Hoping to minimize the off-target effects associated with radiation in patients with oropharyngeal cancer, investigators are testing the hypothesis that intensitymodulated proton therapy can deliver doses as effectively as the current standard of care with less damage to surrounding tissue.

The phase III JAVELIN Head and Neck 100 trial has been terminated after an interim analysis showed that the addition of avelumab to standard-of-care chemoradiotherapy was unlikely to lead to a statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival in patients with untreated locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to Debio 1143, an inhibitor of apoptosis protein antagonist, for the treatment of patients with previously untreated, unresectable, locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck in combination with standard cisplatin-based concomitant fractionation chemoradiation therapy

If clinicians can identify complications earlier and take appropriate prophylactic or therapeutic measures, treatment plan adherence and outcomes may be improved for patients with head and neck cancer.

The FDA has granted a priority review designation to a new drug application for selpercatinib (LOXO-292) for the treatment of patients with advanced RET fusion–positive non–small cell lung cancer, RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer, and RET fusion–positive thyroid cancer.

The United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has issued guidelines recommending against pembrolizumab for use in treatment-naïve patients with metastatic or unresectable recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma whose tumors express PD-L1 with a combined positive score of ≥1.

Japan's Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency has granted approval to frontline pembrolizumab as monotherapy and in combination with chemotherapy for the treatment of patients with recurrent or distant metastatic head and neck cancer.

Everett E. Vokes, MD, FASCO, who is a Giants of Cancer Care® recipient for Head and Neck Cancer, has been named the next president of ASCO for the 2021 to 2022 term.

The European Commission has approved pembrolizumab as a monotherapy or in combination with platinum and 5-FU chemotherapy for the frontline treatment of patients with metastatic or unresectable recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and PD-L1 expression (composite positive score ≥1) on their tumors.