Head & Neck Cancers

Enrolling clinical trials can be a long process, especially in rare diseases with limited patient populations. This is a particularly significant issue for patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer, an extremely rare and aggressive disease.

Jena D. French, PhD, instructor of medicine, division of endocrinology, metabolism and diabetes, Anschutz Medical Campus, University of Colorado, discusses the potential for immunotherapy combinations with lenvatinib in differentiated thyroid cancer.

Given the poor prognoses often seen in patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer, researchers are seeking novel therapies that may hold more promise than surgery or radiation.

Though some patients with medullary thyroid cancer can live with their disease without progression for long periods of time, the majority will eventually enter a phase in which their cancer becomes much more aggressive.

Bridgett Harr, CNP, radiation oncology, Cleveland Clinic, discusses survivorship and managing long-term side effects in head and neck cancer.

Ezra Cohen, MD, associate director, Moores Cancer Center, professor of Medicine, University of California, San Diego Health System, discusses biomarker testing in patients with head and neck cancer.

Adding a Toll-like receptor 8 agonist to standard care for patients with recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck failed to improve progression-free survival.

Barbara Burtness, MD, professor of Medicine, Yale Cancer Center, discusses the potential benefits of using immunotherapy and chemotherapy together in head and neck cancer.

Gregory W. Randolph, MD, director, General and Thyroid Surgical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses the future methods of treating patients with thyroid cancer.

​Jonas de Souza, MD, assistant professor of medicine, University of Chicago, discusses the approval of pembrolizumab for relapsed head and neck cancer patients who are platinum-refractory

Patients with head and neck cancer whose disease is associated with KRAS variant had significantly better progression-free survival and overall survival when treated with the monoclonal antibody cetuximab, according to findings of a retrospective analysis of a randomized trial.

Researchers have created a new classification system for oropharyngeal cancer that is adjusted for the improved prognosis of patients with HPV-positive disease.

The FDA-approved fixed dose of 200 mg of pembrolizumab administered once every 3 weeks yielded durable responses in patients with recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Barbara A. Burtness, MD, discussed the potential role for immunotherapy in frontline head and neck cancer, as well as the possible benefit of using it in combination with standard treatments, including radiation and chemotherapy.

Barbara Burtness, MD, professor of Medicine, Yale Cancer Center, discusses some of the ongoing trials currently examining the use of immunotherapy to treat patients with head and neck cancer.

Jessica Frakes, MD, assistant member, Department of Radiation Oncology, Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses some of the late toxicities seen in patients with HPV-positive oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma.

Carryn Anderson, MD, assistant professor of Radiation Oncology, University of Iowa, discusses a phase Ib/IIa study of superoxide dismutase mimetic GC4419 to reduce chemoradiotherapy-induced oral mucositis in patients with oral cavitiy or oropharyngeal carcinoma.

Gregory W. Randolph, MD, director, General and Thyroid Surgical Services, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General Hospital, discusses how the role of surgery has evolved for patients with thyroid cancer.

Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, discusses the findings of the CheckMate-141 study, potential biomarkers for nivolumab (Opdivo), and questions that remain regarding the use of the immunotherapy in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.