3 Topic Commentaries

Chemoimmunotherapy Linked to HNSCC Response

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  Ari J. Rosenberg, MD

  Medical Oncology (Head & Neck)

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  University of Chicago Medicine

  We hypothesized that adding the PD-1 inhibitor, nivolumab, to the neoadjuvant chemotherapy backbone from the first OPTIMA trial would improve responses, thereby facilitating de-escalation for more patients. The study found that 71% of patients had a deep response, which was the threshold that qualified patients for de-intensification.

  Source
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  Barbara Burtness, MD

  Medical Oncology (Head & Neck)

  •

  Yale Cancer Center, Yale School of Medicine

  This research demonstrates that this checkpoint inhibitor, with or without chemotherapy, should be the first drug used for these types of cancers,

  Source
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  Karim Boudadi, MD

  Medical Oncology (Head & Neck)

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  Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley Memorial Hospital

  The prognosis for metastatic head and neck squamous cell cancer is definitely improving thanks to immunotherapy,

  Source