Head & Neck Cancers

Researchers have identified molecular markers in medullary thyroid cancer that were associated with response to vandetanib and the development of metastases.

Stephen Huang, MD, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the challenges of pediatric thyroid cancer.

Marcia Brose, MD, PhD, associate professor of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, discusses survival benefit and possible combination strategies with the lenvatinib in patients with radioactive iodine refractory differentiated thyroid cancer.

Pablo Valderrabano, MD, Clinical Research Fellow at Moffitt Cancer Center, discusses molecular markers in thyroid nodules and their connection to cancer incidence.

The oral multikinase inhibitor cabozantinib showed promise as a second- or third-line therapy in patients with advanced radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer.

The progression-free survival benefit with lenvatinib in radioactive iodine-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer was observed across common sites of metastasis.

A large survey of endocrinologists found wide variation in management strategies for thyroid nodules that were frequently misaligned with current guidelines, particularly for biopsies by fine-needle aspiration.

Umamaheswar Duvvuri, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology (ENT) at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, talks about potential genetic signatures for locally advanced, well differentiated thyroid cancers.

Manisha Shah, MD, Professor of Oncology at Ohio State University Medical Center, College of Medicine discusses cabozantinib in patients with radioiodine- refractory differentiated thyroid cancer.

The ipsilateral parotidean nodes may be at risk of metastatic involvement when bulky ipsilateral level II metastases and multilevel nodal disease are co-existent, possibly due to retrograde lymphatic drainage.

Brett Miles, MD, DDS, discusses the potential of ADXS11-001 in HPV-associated head and neck cancer and other emerging therapies and treatment strategies.

A retrospective experience suggests that early glottic cancer treated with HRT results in a higher incidence of acute toxicity without improved control compared to CRT delivered in an appropriate OTT.

Hisham Mehanna, MBChB, PhD, Chair, Head and Neck Surgery, Director, Institute of Head and Neck Studies and Education at University of Birmingham, discusses differences in the quality of life (QoL) and functional outcomes of treatment between HPV-positive and HPV-negative head and neck squamous cell cancer patients (HNSCC).

More than a fifth of patients with previously treated metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma showed a measurable response when treated with the immune checkpoint inhibitor pembrolizumab.

Loren K. Mell, MD, chief, Head and Neck Malignancy Service, associate professor, University of California, San Diego, discusses toxicities associated with GL-ONC1 for the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer.

Eighteen new research grants, totaling more than $19 million, have been awarded by the FDA for product development in rare diseases such as HPV-related head and neck cancer and recurrent glioblastoma.

Patients who have HPV 16 DNA in their saliva following treatment of their oropharyngeal cancer are more likely to have their cancer recur, and a prospective cohort study has shown that a simple mouth rinse can be used to detect it.

The attenuated vaccinia virus GL-ONC1 demonstrated safety and clinical benefit when delivered intravenously with concurrent chemoradiation therapy for patients with locoregionally advanced head and neck carcinoma in a recent phase I study.

An improved understanding of the natural history of HPV, its interaction with the host immune system, and the distinct molecular alterations underlying HPV-positive cancers, are fueling development of new drugs, particularly immunotherapies geared toward generating an HPV-specific immune response.

Barbara Ann Burtness, MD, discusses the impact of two studies examining reductions in radiation and chemotherapy dose in low-risk HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer.

Tanguy Y. Seiwert, MD, discusses the significance of the expansion results of KEYNOTE-012 for advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

A group of researchers at Washington University in St. Louis recently opened a clinical trial to evaluate pembrolizumab as treatment intensification therapy for patients with high-risk locoregionally advanced, previously untreated, HPV-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.

Olanzapine (Zyprexa) demonstrated an improvement in antinausea effects in patients receiving concurrent highly emetogenic chemotherapy and radiation therapy for advanced stage head and neck and esophageal cancer when compared to fosaprepitant.

Tanguy Seiwert, MD, assistant professor of medicine and associate leader of the head and neck cancer program, University of Chicago, discusses the efficacy of pembrolizumab in head and neck cancer.

Loren Scott Michel, MD, Assistant Professor Medicine, Washington University, medical oncologist Siteman Cancer Center, discusses the link between human papillomavirus (HPV) and oropharyngeal cancers.