methotrexate

Nivolumab Improved Survival For Patients With Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Source: www.aacr.orgAuthor: AACR Newsroom Staff NEW ORLEANS — Treatment with the immunotherapeutic nivolumab (Opdivo) improved survival for patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that progressed after platinum-based chemotherapy compared with single-agent chemotherapy of the investigator’s choice, according to results from the CheckMate-141 phase III clinical trial presented here at the AACR Annual Meeting 2016, April 16-20. “Recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma that is not responsive to platinum-based chemotherapy progresses very rapidly, and patients have a very poor prognosis,” said Maura L. Gillison, MD, PhD, a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. “Treatment usually involves single-agent chemotherapy. However, no therapy has been shown to improve survival for this patient population. New treatment options are desperately needed. “This study is the first randomized clinical trial to clearly demonstrate improved overall survival for patients with platinum-refractory recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma,” continued Gillison. “We hope that the results will establish nivolumab as a new standard of care option for this patient population and thereby fulfill a huge unmet need.” CheckMate-141 was a randomized, phase III clinical trial designed to determine whether the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab could extend overall survival for patients with platinum-refractory recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma compared with treatment of the investigator’s choice, which was any of the commonly used therapeutics docetaxel, methotrexate, or [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-04-19T10:49:39-07:00April, 2016|OCF In The News, Oral Cancer News|

Nivolumab Could Change Head and Neck Cancer Treatment Paradigm

Source: www.Targetedonc.comAuthor: Laura Panjwani "To have an anti–PD-1 agent be proven to improve survival in head and neck cancer in a randomized phase III trial, and the potential for a new FDA approval in the near future is a game changer." - Robert Ferris, MD, PhD 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. "This is what I've devoted my career to, and it is gratifying to see that really come to pass," said Ferris, professor and chief, Division of Head and Neck Surgery, vice chair for Clinical Operations, associate director for Translational Research, and coleader of the Cancer Immunology Program at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, in an exclusive interview with Targeted Oncology. "To have an anti–PD-1 agent be proven to improve survival in head and neck cancer in a randomized phase III trial, and the potential for a new FDA approval in the near future is a game changer. There is now hope for a lot of patients and physicians who have been frustrated by this difficult-to-treat disease. This opens up a whole new class of therapies for this population." Ferris, who acted as cochair/coprimary investigator for the trial alongside Maura Gillison, MD, PhD, Ohio State University, said the trial pitted nivolumab against the investigator’s choice of cetuximab (Erbitux), methotrexate, or docetaxel in patients with platinum-refractory squamous cell carcinoma [...]

Charlotte Parker2016-02-16T09:24:23-07:00February, 2016|Oral Cancer News|

An effective and well-tolerated strategy in recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck cancer: successive lines of active chemotherapeutic agents

Source: 7thspace.com Author: staff The combination platinum, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and cetuximab is the standard first-line regimen of recurrent and/or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Due to the toxicity of this treatment, alternative therapies are often offered to patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the overall survival obtained with a first line chemotherapy adapted to patients functional status and the administration of all active drugs within successive lines of chemotherapy. Methods: This series included a total of 194 patients with recurrent and/or metastatic HNSCC treated from 2006 to 2011 in a single institution where the administration of successive lines of chemotherapies has been the standard clinical approach. Treatment was administered according to clinical practice guidelines. Results: Most patients received at least two treatment lines. Only 11 patients (6%) were treated with a combination of cisplatin, 5-FU and cetuximab in front line, but most patients received at least one platinum-based regimen (n = 154 patients, 78%); 162 (82%) received taxanes, 36 (18%) received 5-FU, 27 (14%) received capecitabine, 67 (34%) received methotrexate and 134 (68%) received cetuximab. The median overall survival was 9.8 months (95% CI: 8.1-11.4 months) and reached 13.1 months among the subgroup of 131 patients eligible for inclusion in a clinical trial. Conclusion: The survival outcomes of patients treated in the first-line setting with chemotherapy regimens adapted to their functional status, followed by several subsequent regimens were comparable with published outcomes of patients treated by platinum, 5-FU and cetuximab. Credits/Source: BMC Cancer 2014, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2014-07-12T08:48:52-07:00July, 2014|Oral Cancer News|

Polymeric nanoparticles attack head and neck cancer

Source: www.nanowerk.com Author: staff Head and neck cancer, the sixth most common cancer in the world, has remained one of the more difficult malignancies to treat, and even when treatment is successful, patients suffer severely from the available therapies. Now, researchers at the University of Michigan have developed a tumor-targeted nanoparticle that delivers high doses of anticancer agents directly to head and neck tumors. Tests in animals have shown that this novel formulation increases survival while triggering fewer side effects. Reporting its work in the Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery ("Targeted Dendrimer Chemotherapy in an Animal Model for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma "), a team led by James R. Baker, Jr., created a spherical polymeric nanoparticle known as a dendrimer to deliver the drug methotrexate to head and neck tumors. To target the nanoparticle to those tumors, the investigators decorated the nanoparticle's surface with folic acid. Many tumors, but few healthy cells, produce excessive amounts of a folic acid receptor on their surfaces. Dr. Baker and his colleagues pioneered the use of dendrimers as targeted drug-delivery vehicles with funding from the National Cancer Institute's Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer. The researchers tested their dendrimer-based formulation in three different groups of mice. The control group had tumors grown from human head and neck tumors that did not produce the folic acid receptor. The two experimental groups had tumors grown from human head and neck tumors that expressed moderate and high levels of the folic acid receptor. Mice receiving [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-07-16T11:43:31-07:00July, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Report highlights cancer advances

Source: www.medpagetoday.com Author: Charles Bankhead, Staff Writer, MedPage Today As the war on cancer enters its fifth decade, 51 studies stood out as examples of progress that occurred in the past year, as determined by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and reported in "Clinical Cancer Advances 2009." Reflecting input from specialists throughout the field, the ASCO annual report highlights research developments for nine types of cancer, as well as cancer disparities, quality of life and quality of care, and cancer prevention and screening. "As this report demonstrates -- and as history shows -- investment in clinical cancer research pays off," ASCO president Douglas Blayney, MD, of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, said in a statement included in the report. "Since 1990, cancer mortality rates have declined by 15%. Today, two-thirds of patients survive at least five years after diagnosis, compared to just half of patients 40 years ago." "Thanks to basic research advances, we are entering an era of personalized cancer medicine, in which treatment is tailored to the unique genetics of the individual," Blayney added. The entire report appears online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, but here is a summary of developments related to some of the most common cancers. In an attempt to provide context and a diversity of viewpoints, MedPage Today, in collaboration with ABC News, solicited comments from cancer specialists who were not involved in developing the ASCO publication. As appropriate, their views are included with the review of cancer research [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2009-11-10T08:08:06-07:00November, 2009|Oral Cancer News|