Barbara Burtness MD, Professor of Medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine, and member of the Advisory Board of PracticeUpdate Oncology, recommends the following abstracts that will be presented at this year's ASCO Annual Meeting, held June 3 through June 7, 2022, in Chicago and simultaneously online.

Oral Abstract Session: Head and Neck Cancer
Friday, June 3, 2022; 3:45 PM–6:45 PM EDT

6000 Radiotherapy alone versus concurrent chemoradiotherapy in intermediate risk nasopharyngeal carcinoma: A multicentre, open-label, noninferiority, randomised phase III trial. J Ma, LL Tang, R Guo,et al

Take-Home Message

• This randomized controlled phase III study was designed to determine if patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma being treated with intensity-modulated radiotherapy could safely avoid concomitant chemotherapy. After a median 41-month follow-up, intention-to-treat analysis showed that 90.7% of the radiotherapy group (n=172) and 92.1% of the concurrent chemotherapy group (n=169) had achieved 3-year failure-free survival (FFS; the primary endpoint). Likewise, the per-protocol analysis found excellent FFS at 3 years of 90.3% for the radiotherapy group and 92.1% for the concurrent group. Overall survival, locoregional relapse, and distant metastasis were the same in the two groups. However, patients receiving concurrent chemoradiotherapy experienced significantly more grade 3 and 4 hematologic and nonhematologic adverse events.
• Radiotherapy alone was associated with less toxicity but comparable survival and disease control.

6006 Association of plasma tumor tissue modified viral HPV DNA (TTMV) with tumor burden, treatment type, and outcome: A translational analysis from NRG-HN002. SS Yom, PA Torres-Saavedra, C Kuperwasser, et al

6007 A randomized phase II study evaluating concurrent or sequential fixed-dose immune therapy in combination with cisplatin and intensity-modulated radiotherapy in intermediate- or high-risk, previously untreated, locally advanced head and neck cancer (LA SCCHN). DA Clump, DP Zandberg, HD Skinner, et al

Take-Home Message

• This randomized phase II study was designed to determine the optimal timing of anti–PD-1 antibody (pembrolizumab) with chemoradiotherapy (cisplatin plus RT) in previously untreated patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer (LA SCCHN). Among the 80 participants, 41 received the concurrent regimen and 39 the sequential. In the concurrent group, pembrolizumab was started 1 week prior to the start of chemoradiotherapy; in the sequential group, it was started 2 weeks after. Although both groups met the predefined composite endpoints of rates of dose-limiting toxicity, local failure of <60% at 1 year, and progression-free survival of 60% at 1 year, the 1- and 2-year progression-free survival rate of 89% for the sequential regimen was numerically higher than that of 82% and 78% for the concurrent regimen.
• The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the two schedules of pembrolizumab combined with chemoradiotherapy to recommend the regimen to be tested in the next phase. Given the numerically higher PFS rates associated with the sequential regimen, that is the one that will be tested in a phase III trial.

6008 A phase II trial of pembrolizumab and cabozantinib in patients (pts) with recurrent metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (RMHNSCC). NF Saba, A Ekpenyong, A McCook-Veal, et al

Poster Session: Head and Neck Cancer
Monday, June 6, 2022; Starting at 2:15 PM EDT

6045 A phase 1 dose-escalation and expansion study of CUE-101, a novel HPV16 E7-pHLA-IL2-Fc fusion protein, given alone and in combination with pembrolizumab in patients with recurrent/metastatic HPV16+ head and neck cancer. CH Chung, AD Colevas, D Adkins, et al

6065 Quality of life and two-year results of a randomized phase III study of dysphagia-optimized intensity modulated radiotherapy (DO-IMRT) versus standard IMRT (S-IMRT) in head and neck cancer. C Nutting, K Rooney, B Foran, et al

Take-Home Message

• This randomized study of patients with oropharyngeal and hypopharyngeal cancers investigated if a dysphagia-optimized intensity-modulated radiotherapy (DO-IMRT) regimen compared with standard IMRT could improve swallowing function by reducing the radiotherapy dose to the dysphagia/aspiration–related structures.
• Patient-reported improvements in swallowing and quality of life associated with DO-IMRT were noted across various functional scales.

6075 Nivolumab-based induction chemoimmunotherapy and PD-L1 expression in locoregionally advanced HPV-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma. A Rosenberg, AT Pearson, N Agrawal, et al

6077 Outcomes by tobacco history in E3311, a phase II trial of transoral surgery (TOS) followed by pathology-based adjuvant treatment in HPV-associated (HPV+) oropharynx cancer (OPC): A trial of the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group. R Mehra, Y Flamand, H Quon, et al

Poster Discussion Session: Head and Neck Cancer
Monday, June 6, 2022; 5:30 PM–7:00 PM EDT

LBA6016 Phase 3 randomised study evaluating the addition of low-dose nivolumab to palliative chemotherapy in head and neck cancer. VM Patil, V Noronha, NS Menon, et al

6019 A phase 2 clinical trial of axitinib and avelumab in patients with recurrent/metastatic adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC). R Ferrarotto, D Bell, L Feng, et al

6020 A phase 2 study of the oral vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) inhibitor, rivoceranib, for recurrent or metastatic (R/M) adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC). H Kang, MJ Ahn, J Muzaffar, et al

ASCO 2022; aanbevoilen abstracten, mond- en keelkanker

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• ASCO 2021: aanbevolen abstracten specifiek gerelateerd aan mond- en keelkanker

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• Aanbevolen abstracten voor mond- en keelkanker van ASCO 2019

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• Regulier - Mond- en keelkanker: een overzicht van recente ontwikkelingen en belangrijke studieresultaten bij hoofd- en halstumoren binnen de reguliere oncologie