Head & Neck Cancers

The FDA has approved a new biweekly dosing regimen of 500 mg/m2 as a 120-minute intravenous infusion for cetuximab (Erbitux) for patients with KRAS wild-type, EGFR-expressing colorectal cancer or squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Ezra Cohen, MD, FRCPSC, FASCO, discusses the goals of the phase 2 SPEARHEAD-2 trial in head and neck cancer.

Tipifarnib showed promising clinical activity in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic, HRAS-mutant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma whose disease had progressed after prior therapy.

The filing of a biologics license application has been initiated with the FDA for toripalimab for the treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

February 24, 2021 - The FDA has granted a breakthrough therapy designation to tipifarnib for use in patients with recurrent or metastatic HRAS-mutated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with variant allele frequency of 20% or higher following progressive disease on platinum-based chemotherapy.

ADP-A2M4CD8, a novel T-cell therapy, is being investigated in a range of tumor types that express MAGEA4, an antigen expressed in solid tumors that investigators say represents a promising target for cellular immunotherapy.

February 5, 2021 - Durvalumab failed to improve overall survival over the EXTREME chemotherapy regimen in the frontline treatment of patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma with tumors expressed high levels of PD-L1, missing a primary end point of the phase 3 KESTREL trial.

Nabil F. Saba, MD, FACP, discusses the results of the JAVELIN Head and Neck 100 trial, as well as data from other key, recent studies in head and neck cancer.

Although the ability to treat head and neck cancer has certainly improved over the years, a significant percentage of patients experience recurrent disease after initial treatment.

January 8th, 2021 - The United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has issued guidelines recommending against nivolumab for use in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma who experienced disease progression during or after platinum-based chemotherapy.

In our exclusive interview, Robert Lindau, III, MD, discusses his journey into the head and neck surgery space, tips for a successful fellowship, and the importance of creating a family-like environment within the fellowship program he directs.

December 23, 2020 — Although SGX942 was found to induce clinically meaningful reductions in severe oral mucositis vs placebo in patients with head and neck cancer, the benefit failed to reach statistical significance, thus missing the primary end point of the phase 3 DOM-INNATE study.

December 21, 2020 - Cabozantinib was found to significantly improve progression-free survival compared with placebo in patients with dedifferentiated thyroid cancer who are refractory to radioiodine and have progressed following up to 2 prior VEGF-targeted treatments.