HEAD & NECK CANCERS

Both HPV-positive and -negative head and neck cancers are “outstanding candidates for immunotherapeutic strategies,” said Andrew G. Sikora, MD, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine, at the 2014 Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium.

The FDA has expanded the approval of Lymphoseek (technetium Tc 99m tilmanocept) injection to include sentinel lymph node (SLN) detection for breast cancer and melanoma as well as lymphatic mapping in solid tumors.

While medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) is an uncommon malignancy, accounting for about 5% of thyroid cancers, progressive forms of the disease are poorly responsive to chemotherapy and radiation.

Afatinib delayed disease progression for approximately one month longer than chemotherapy and helped prevent painful symptoms from worsening for patients with relapsed or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Barbara Burtness, MD, discusses immune checkpoint inhibitors for head and neck cancers.

A randomized, open-label study is currently under way to test the safety and efficacy of the novel immunoadjuvant, Multikine, in patients with head and neck cancer.

The protein kinase, Wee1, has been identified as a novel therapeutic target for p53-mutant head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Expression of the EGFR and its ligand transforming growth factor alpha occurs early in the carcinogenesis of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).

Lori J. Wirth, MD, medical director, Center for Head and Neck Cancers, Massachusetts General Hospital, assistant professor, Harvard Medical School, discusses areas of unmet need in the field of thyroid cancer.

Ezra Cohen, MD, professor of medicine, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, discusses immunotherapy in head and neck cancer.

Although prognostic biomarkers have become increasingly important in the treatment of many types of cancer, no such markers have yet been identified and validated for thyroid cancer.

A better understanding of the molecular pathways that confer resistance to RAI in the treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer has led to success in targeting the VEGF and the VEGF receptor pathways.

Martin Schlumberger, MD, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif Cedex, professor of oncology, University Paris-Sud, France, discusses the takeaway points for a community oncologist from the SELECT trial.

Targeted therapies, including TKIs, are increasingly being investigated in head and neck cancers, including RM-SCCHN and advanced thyroid cancers.

A multidisciplinary approach has become increasingly important in the treatment of HNC in order to provide effective, timely, and evidence-based management of these complex and heterogeneous tumors.

Dacomitinib has demonstrated potential as treatment for a subset of patients with recurrent squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN).

The investigational CD19-targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapy CTL019 has received a breakthrough therapy designation from the FDA as a potential treatment for pediatric and adult patients with relapsed/refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

The FDA has approved the radioactive diagnostic imaging agent Lymphoseek injection to guide sentinel lymph node biopsy in patients with cancer of the head and neck.

Lori J. Wirth, MD, discusses the results from the phase III SELECT trial that analyzed lenvatinib (E7080) in patients with 131I-refractory differentiated thyroid cancer. There were 6 treatment-related deaths on the study.

Ezra Cohen, MD, professor of medicine, UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center, discusses new data on immunotherapies for head and neck cancers.

Ghassan K. Abou-Alfa, MD, Gastrointestinal Oncology Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, discusses a retrospective study to determine the prognostic value of C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who are undergoing treatment with sorafenib.

Hassan Arshad, MD, assistant professor of oncology, head and neck surgeon, Department of Head and Neck Surgery/Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, discusses the future of treating head and neck cancer and the challenges behind treating the disease.

Hassan Arshad, MD, assistant professor of oncology, head and neck surgeon, Department of Head and Neck Surgery/Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, discusses a new study that will be evaluating a new approach to photodynamic therapy in patients with head and neck cancer.

A wide-ranging analysis of more than 5500 breast cancer tumors that combined genomic and protein expression testing has identified promising targets to explore for treating patients with poor prognoses, with particularly notable findings involving androgen receptor (AR) expression.

Marcia S. Brose, MD, PhD, assistant professor, Abramson Cancer Center, University of Pennsylvania, discusses research into vandetanib for the treatment of patients with differentiated thyroid cancer.