• Curr Opin Oncol · May 2006

    Review

    Recent advances in head and neck cancer therapy: the role of new cytotoxic and molecular-targeted agents.

    • Francesco Caponigro, Amalia Milano, Maria Basile, Franco Ionna, and Rosario Vincenzo Iaffaioli.
    • Division of Medical Oncology B, National Tumor Institute of Naples, Fondazione G. Pascale, Naples, Italy. caponigrof@libero.it
    • Curr Opin Oncol. 2006 May 1; 18 (3): 247-52.

    Purpose Of ReviewTo provide an update on novel compounds in head and neck cancer (HNC) therapy, with emphasis on biologic agents.Recent FindingsCisplatin-5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is the standard chemotherapeutic approach in HNC. Strategies to improve its activity include the substitution of 5-FU with oral fluoropyrimidines; the substitution of cisplatin with different analogs or formulations; and the use of additional or alternative compounds. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is the most appealing target for novel therapies in HNC. Cetuximab, a chimeric anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody, has undergone evaluation in platinum-refractory recurrent or metastatic HNC with a satisfactory and consistent response rate (10-13%) across three different Phase II studies in association with platinum or as single agent. A recent Phase III placebo-controlled trial has shown better response rate for patients treated with cetuximab and cisplatin, with respect to those treated with cisplatin alone. EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) are under investigation in HNC, and efforts are made to understand which molecular features are associated with objective responses. One appealing way to use EGFR TKIs is in combination with other biologic compounds, such as anti-angiogenic agents.SummaryNew molecular-targeted therapies are inducing consistent, small improvements in HNC management. The major challenge regards how to better combine them with the final aim of obtaining long-term stabilization of advanced disease.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…