Articles related to HEAD & NECK CANCER (HNC)

Chemoradiotherapy with high-dose cisplatin every three weeks is the standard adjuvant treatment for patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck with high risk for recurrence. However, the cisplatin dose is frequently reduced because of dose-related toxicities which can result in insufficient cisplatin delivery. Chemoradiotherapy with weekly cisplatin at a dose of 40 mg/m2 is widely used as a possible alternative, albeit without sufficient evidence. This clinical trial was conducted to prove the noninferiority of weekly cisplatin to three weekly cisplatin plus radiation therapy (RT).

Research from 20 years (2000 -2020) of studies (293) inform the evidence base for this guideline from ASCO, which addressed six main clinical questions/subquestions on preoperative evaluations, surgical diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, appropriate radiotherapy techniques, the role of systemic therapy, and follow-up evaluations.

This new study found that patients who underwent radiotherapy to treat head and neck cancer experienced accelerated biological aging of as much as 4.9 years in the period immediately post therapy, with further accelerated aging following over time. The study was conducted at Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute in Atlanta, Georgia. Chronological age is a strong risk factor for chronic health problems, including greater inflammation and fatigue.

The approval of the new cetuximab (Erbitux) dosage – 500 mg/m2 as a two-hour IV infusion every two weeks – was based on population pharmacokinetic (PK) modeling analyses and provides an alternative option to the previously approved weekly dose. Cetuximab can be dosed alone or in combination with chemotherapy.

In what is believed to be the most comprehensive molecular characterization to date of HPV-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs), researchers have clarified the contribution of key cancer-associated genes, proteins and signaling pathways in these cancers, while proposing possible new treatment avenues.

The term abscopal effect (from Latin, ab, meaning “away from,” and scopus, meaning “target”) was coined in 1953, specifically referring to effects of ionizing radiation outside the radiated tumor volume. Does the evidence show that, contrary to widely held perception in the field, the abscopal effect is exceedingly rare and is not clinically relevant when using anti–PD-1/PD-L1 therapies and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for head and neck cancer (HNC)?