Head and Neck Cancer

On March 16, 2023, the FDA approved dabrafenib (Tafinlar; Novartis) in combination with trametinib (Mekinist; Novartis) for the treatment of pediatric patients aged ≥1 year with low-grade glioma that harbors a BRAF V600E mutation and who require systemic therapy.
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Oropharyngeal cancer, which can develop at the base of the tongue, tonsils, and the middle part of the throat, is primarily caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, the most common sexually transmitted virus and infection in the United States. Over the past 2 decades, cases of HPV-positive oropharyngeal squamous-cell carcinoma (OPSCC) have been increasing at an alarming rate among men in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 54,000 cases of oropharyngeal and oral cavity cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2021, and more than 10,000 individuals will die from the disease. OPSCC is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, resulting in increased mortality and morbidity.
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San Francisco, CA—The increasing rate of infection with the human papilloma­virus (HPV) in the United States has changed the field of head and neck cancer, or oral cancer, and HPV infection now causes a growing majority (70%-90%) of oropharyngeal squamous-cell carcinomas. As its incidence is rising, so is patients’ curiosity about what sets this cancer apart from other malignancies.
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Scottsdale, AZ—The addition of chemotherapy to irradiation proved superior to accelerated radiotherapy without systemic therapy in a randomized trial of patients with advanced head and neck cancer.
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Scottsdale, AZ—Definitive chemoradiation with single-agent outpatient chemotherapy for head and neck cancer led to disease control and survival equivalent to that of inpatient multi-agent therapy, at an annualized savings of almost $650,000, according to results of a small randomized trial presented at the 2014 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium.
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Berlin, Germany—Although little is known about the prevalence of lymphedema in patients with head and neck cancer, a series of studies showed that 75% of patients with head and neck cancer have problematic lymphedema internally and externally.
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Therapeutic development in head and neck cancer could eventually hone in on a handful of gene-expression patterns and signaling pathways that can identify a few discrete subtypes of the disease, data from The Cancer Genome Atlas suggest.
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Toronto, Canada—The popularity of intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) for head and neck cancer has climbed rapidly in recent years. How­ever, the extra cost associated with this treatment modality may not equate with improved value, according to researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), who presented their analysis at the 2012 International Conference on Head and Neck Cancer.
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