Head & Neck Cancer

Research presented at the 2022 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium highlighted the potential to detect oropharyngeal cancer recurrence using circulating tumor tissue modified viral–human papillomavirus DNA.

A presentation from the 2022 ASTRO Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium showed a de-escalated radiotherapy dose to 54 Gy vs 70 Gy led to better measures of toxicity in those with p16+ oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

In a pre-planned pooled analysis of data from the MC1273 and MC1675 trials presented at the 2022 ASTRO Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancers Symposium, de-escalated adjuvant radiation therapy met criteria for efficacy in human papillomavirus–related oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Findings indicate that patients with advanced or metastatic radioactive iodine–refractory differentiated thyroid cancer who received apatinib experienced a prolonged survival benefit vs placebo.

PDS Biotechnology Corporation announced that the combination of PDS0101 and pembrolizumab achieved preliminary response efficacy for patients with advanced human papillomavirus–associated head and neck cancer.

Abiraterone acetate and luteinizing hormone–releasing hormone agonist is a promising second-line option for androgen receptor–expressing castration resistant salivary gland cancer.

CUE-101 could be a potentially promising therapeutic agent for patients with recurrent/metastatic, HPV16-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Use of a multimedia education platform appeared to compliment traditional education methods and provide complementary information on treatment and recovery for those with head and neck cancer.

Research indicated that non-Hispanic Black patients had significantly worse 5-year overall survival outcomes compared with Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native patients.

Although findings suggest that close or positive surgical margins are associated with a higher risk of poor outcomes in salivary gland cancer, it did not appear to be an independent factor for poor outcomes after adjusting for tumor stage, histologic risk group, and adjuvant radiotherapy use.

Veteran survivors of head and neck cancer who experienced suicidal self-directed violence were found to most likely die from their injuries.

Patients with melanoma, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and cervical cancer who had not previously received immunotherapy and were treated with lifileucel plus pembrolizumab experienced promising overall response rates compared favorably with historical data on pembrolizumab monotherapy.

Cesar A. Perez, MD, and Victoria M. Villaflor, MD, discuss tipifarnib in patients with head and neck cancers harboring HRAS mutations.

Patients who received transoral robotic surgery for human papillomavirus–positive oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma were likely to experience pathologic extra nodal extension and positive margins following surgery.

A priority review was granted to toripalimab by the FDA for 2 indications in patients with advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Patients with human papillomavirus–associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma experienced good quality of life and promising survival benefit after being treated with de-escalated adjuvant radiation therapy.

Patients with human papillomavirus–associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma experienced efficacious survival benefits from treatment with primary radiotherapy.

Key takeaways from a paper that evaluated the efficacy of tipifarnib in recurrent and/or metastatic mHRAS head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

A phase 2 trial examining the use of small molecule immunomodulator EC-18 in patients with head and neck cancer experiencing chemoradiation-induced oral mucositis met its primary and secondary end points.

Drs Cesar Perez and Victoria Meucci Villaflor review “Tipifarnib in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma With HRAS Mutations” by Ho AL, et al.

Patients with recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and a PD-L1 combined positive score of 1 or more and 20 or more experienced a clinical benefit with first-line nivolumab plus ipilimumab compared with the EXTREME regimen.

The association between current human papillomavirus vaccination trends and incidence of oropharynx cancer will be modest over the next 25 years.

Ficlatuzumab, which received a fast track designation from the FDA, may provide benefit to patients with relapsed or recurrent head and neck cancer.

The first patients with human papillomavirus 16–positive oropharyngeal cancer have been dosed with ISA101b, which was given a fast track designation by the FDA, as part of a phase 2 study.

The anti-PD-1 antibody spartalizumab demonstrated promising responses in patients with recurrent/metastatic nasopharyngeal cancer.

Patients with advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma and who were treated with gemcitabine plus cisplatin experienced a longer overall survival and improved progression-free survival vs fluorouracil plus cisplatin.

Investigators identified an improvement in median progression-free survival among patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma who were treated with camrelizumab plus gemcitabine and cisplatin vs placebo plus gemcitabine.

Toripalimab in combination with chemotherapy yielded an improvement in progression-free survival compared with placebo plus chemotherapy in patients with recurrent or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

Patients with head and neck cancer who live in rural counties are 50% more likely to die from suicide compared with individuals residing in urban or metropolitan areas.

Data from a phase 2 clinical trial with pembrolizumab and cetuximab yielded promising clinical activity in patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.