Head & Neck Cancer

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Adjuvant Nivolumab/Cisplatin/RT Improves DFS in Advanced Head and Neck Cancer
Adjuvant Nivolumab/Cisplatin/RT Improves DFS in Advanced Head and Neck Cancer

June 1st 2025

Results from the NIVOPOSTOP trial found improved DFS with adjuvant nivolumab plus cisplatin and RT for patients with LA-SCCHN.

From breast cancer to head and neck tumors, the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting may feature a wide range of practice-changing data across cancer care.
ASCO 2025: The Presentations That May Shift the Cancer Care Paradigm

May 23rd 2025

Efti plus pembrolizumab demonstrated no new safety signals in the TACTI-003 trial.
Frontline Efti Combo Yields Meaningful Survival in PD-L1–Low HNSCC

May 8th 2025

Event-free survival events were observed in 37.5% of patients taking pembrolizumab vs 45.3% without among patients with resectable locally advanced HNSCC.
Perioperative Pembrolizumab Enhances Survival in Locally Advanced HNSCC

April 30th 2025

Data from the phase 3 AK105-304 study support the approval of penpulimab in this nasopharyngeal carcinoma population.
FDA Approves Penpulimab in Non-Keratinizing Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

April 24th 2025

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p53 Tumor Suppressor Gene Therapy for Cancer

October 1st 1999

Gene therapy has the potential to provide cancer treatments based on novel mechanisms of action with potentially low toxicities. This therapy may provide more effective control of locoregional recurrence in diseases like non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as well as systemic control of micrometastases. Despite current limitations, retroviral and adenoviral vectors can, in certain circumstances, provide an effective means of delivering therapeutic genes to tumor cells. Although multiple genes are involved in carcinogenesis, mutations of the p53 gene are the most frequent abnormality identified in human tumors. Preclinical studies both in vitro and in vivo have shown that restoring p53 function can induce apoptosis in cancer cells. High levels of p53 expression and DNA-damaging agents like cisplatin (Platinol) and ionizing radiation work synergistically to induce apoptosis in cancer cells. Phase I clinical trials now show that p53 gene replacement therapy using both retroviral and adenoviral vectors is feasible and safe. In addition, p53 gene replacement therapy induces tumor regression in patients with advanced NSCLC and in those with recurrent head and neck cancer. This article describes various gene therapy strategies under investigation, reviews preclinical data that provide a rationale for the gene replacement approach, and discusses the clinical trial data available to date. [ ONCOLOGY 13(Suppl 5):148-154, 1999]