CETUXIMAB vs CISPLATIN
For head and neck patients chemotherapy can be a difficult experience. The toxicity and permanent effects of such treatment make finding new or alternative drugs a high priority. Current standard care employs cisplatin chemotherapy but recent clinical trials have compared it with a more novel agent, cetuximab. Sadly the results reported so far indicate cisplatin should remain the standard care. It was reported at the European Society of Medical Oncology Congress this month that cetuximab gave inferior outcomes.
The Chief Investigator, Professor Hisham Mehanna, can be seen here presenting his findings
The findings have been published in The Lancet and are reported
IMMUNOTHERAPY
Immunotherapies have yielded some encouraging results so far in the treatment of cancer. For head and neck patients they have been used when the cancer is very advanced and treatment options are limited. The benefits seen have led clinicians to now recommend their use at an earlier stage.