HEAD & NECK CANCERS

Patients with HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell cancer (OPSCC) who smoke can develop tobacco-associated mutations over time. These accumulated mutations result in less dependence on E6/E7 and other HPV-associated mutations.

Barbara Burtness, MD, discusses the explosion of immunotherapies on the horizon for patients with metastatic head and neck cancer.

Anaplastic thyroid cancer is an extremely aggressive form of cancer that cannot be cured by surgery and has a median survival of about 6 months. The malignancy normally occurs in patients over the age of 60, and there is not a standard of care, according to John A. Copland III, PhD, professor, Cancer Biology, Mayo Clinic.

Asa says one of the most common mutations in subtypes of thyroid cancer is the BRAF mutation. She adds that while the mutation is common, a good number of patients do not respond to BRAF-targeted therapies, hinting that these subtypes are more complex than previously thought.

Patients with a certain type of oral human papilloma virus (HPV) have an increased risk of developing head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, as well as oropharyngeal cancer, according to a new study.

With the phase III CheckMate-141 trial being stopped early due to the anti-PD-1 agent nivolumab having met its primary endpoint of overall survival improvement in head and neck cancer, Robert Ferris, MD, PhD, couldn't be more elated.

Anti–PD-1 agent nivolumab boosted overall survival versus an investigator's choice of therapy in platinum-refractory squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) during a recent trial.

The FDA has granted an affinity enhanced T-cell therapy breakthrough therapy designation for patients with inoperable or metastatic pretreated synovial sarcoma who harbor HLA-A*201, HLA-A*205, or HLA-A*206 alleles and whose tumors express the NY-ESO-1 tumor antigen

Single-dose fosaprepitant dimeglumine (Emend for injection) in combination with antiemetic agents has been approved by the FDA for the preventing

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda), a PD-1 inhibitor, showcased encouraging activity with some adverse events (AEs) when employed as a treatment for patients with advanced PD-L1

Patients who elect to undergo immediate surgery for low-risk thyroid-related microcarcinoma may be subjecting themselves to unnecessary risk, according to findings from a large study in Japan.

The presence or absence of certain serum-free fatty acids could be an excellent diagnostic tool to differentiate between patients with either benign thyroid diseases or thyroid cancer.

An upcoming phase I trial seeks to evaluate a combination of interferon gamma-1b (ACTIMMUNE) and nivolumab (Opdivo) in patients with advanced solid tumors who have progressed on at least one prior systemic therapy.

The FDA has approved a new treatment consisting of a non-alcohol formulation of docetaxel in patients with breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer, gastric adenocarcinoma, and head and neck cancer.

Patients with newly-diagnosed glioblastoma who received treatment with tumor- treating electrical fields in addition to temozolomide had nearly double the two-year survival of those who received temozolomide alone, according to an article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Burtness says on average, medical professionals should take about 4 minutes or longer to properly explain the clinical trial to their patients, as well as leave ample time for questions at the end of the conversation.

Rindopepimut is the first immunotherapy to have ever shown a survival benefit in brain cancers, specifically glioblastoma, said David Reardon, MD.

A chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy used in patients with EGFRvIII-positive glioblastoma multiforme during a pilot study showed promising results, according to two leading researchers in the field presenting at the 2015 Society of Neuro-Oncology Annual Meeting.

An international team of experts is planning an innovative clinical trial to speed up development of new treatments for glioblastoma multiforme.

Developing safe and effective therapies for malignant brain tumors, specifically glioblastoma, is a challenging-yet-achieveable endeavor pursued by researchers and patients alike.

Amy Heimberger, MD, professor in the Department of Neurosurgery, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, talks about immunotheraputics in the context of glioblastoma (GBM).

A quarter of patients with relapsed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM)-treated with the vaccine rindopepimut (Rintega) plus bevacizumab remained alive at 2 years.

Phase II findings have shown a substantial improvement in overall survival with the dendritic vaccine ICT-107 in a subgroup of patients with HLA-A2+ newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), warranting further exploration in a phase III study.

Though clinical work is ongoing and early, researchers are already considering how to manage potentially fatal neurotoxicities in patients treated with chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy.

An emerging class of immune checkpoint blockade drugs has produced impressive benefits for patients in many solid tumor types. The class' success hints that these drugs ay be successful against central nervous system tumors as well, including glioblastoma.

Physicians are up to the task when it comes to the influx of immunotherapies being studied and approved across multiple tumor types, Jeffrey S. Weber, MD, PhD

Optune in conjunction with chemotherapy and/or bevacizumab boosted survival rates in patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme.

A research team from Michigan Technological University recently discovered two major biomarkers used in the detection of thyroid cancer may be inaccurate in diagnosing the disease.

Rimas Lukas, MD, director, Medical Neuro-Oncology, co-director, Neurology Medical Student Clerkship Program, The University of Chicago Medical Center, on PD-L1 blockade treatment and its potential in patients with recurrent glioblastoma (GBM).

David Reardon, MD, clinical director, Center for Neuro-Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, on the need to identify glioblastoma (GBM) patients with the EGFRvIII mutation in their tumor.