Articles

Highlights in head and neck cancer

BJMO - volume 18, issue 8, december 2024

W. Lybaert MD

SUMMARY

The ESMO congress was held from 13–17th of September 2024, in a live and virtual format. During this congress, the promising combination of eftilagimod alpha and pembrolizumab as a chemotherapy-sparing regimen in first-line treatment of recurrent/metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) shows puzzling, but rather disappointing results at first analysis. Since adjuvant atezolizumab after concomitant chemoradiotherapy failed to improve results in locally advanced HNSCC, all eyes are now on the phase III JADE study in the same setting with dostarlimab. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy is an effective intervention that could improve organ preservation in patients with T3 and T4a nasal and paranasal sinus squamous cell carcinoma. Chemotherapy and androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) present equivalent results in androgen receptor (AR)-expressing salivary gland tumours, and trastuzumab deruxtecan enters as an efficacious new treatment line in this rare tumour type. In this report, the most important headlines will be discussed, with comments on the clinical relevance of the different studies.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2024;18(8):317–324)

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Highlights in head and neck cancer

BJMO - volume 18, issue 5, september 2024

W. Lybaert MD, M. Rasschaert MD, PhD

SUMMARY

The ASCO annual meeting was held from the 31st of May until the 4th of June 2024 in a live and virtual format. During this Meeting, HPV vaccination shows first encouraging prevention results towards head and neck cancer incidence in young persons. Intensity-modulated proton therapy beats intensity-modulated photon therapy as definitive treatment of oropharyngeal cancer regarding toxicity profile. Promising chemotherapy-free regimens are at the horizon in first-line treatment of recurrent/metastatic HNSCC, though more studies in larger patient populations are needed. Also HPV-targeting immunotherapy is entering in the neoadjuvant and metastatic HNSCC setting, studies are running. Antibody-drug conjugates are prudently looking for a place in later-line treatment of HNSCC. Metronomic chemotherapy shows a clinically very relevant OS benefit for ECOG 2 patients. Immunotherapy is promising in the neoadjuvant and adjuvant treatment of locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. FAPI PET-CT beats 18F-FDG PET-CT as imaging for medullary thyroid carcinoma.

In this report, the most important headlines will be discussed, with comments on the clinical relevance of the different studies.

(Belg J Med Oncol 2024;18(5):181–90)

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Highlights of the 21st annual European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society (ENETS) Conference

BJMO - 2024, issue 4, june 2024

W. Lybaert MD, T. Vandamme MD, PhD, L. Mariën MSc, O. Islam MD, S. Chhajlani MD, C. De Weerdt MSc, I. Nietvelt MSc, M. Ulenaers MD, V. Casneuf MD, M. Maly MD, K. Geboes MD, D. Van Genechten , H. Leupe MD, C.M. Deroose MD, PhD

SUMMARY

During the ENETS Conference, the NETTER-2 trial was again in the spotlight and is shifting [177Lu]Lu-DOTATATE PRRT to the first-line treatment setting of patients with advanced, well-differentiated grade 2 and grade 3 gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (NET). Nuclear medicine treatment for NET is now intensively focusing on alpha-emitting peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT). Adding immunotherapy to angiogenesis inhibition for NET is again a disappointing story, and all eyes are now set on the CAR T-cell technology to stimulate anti-tumour immune responses. Delta-like ligand 3 is an inhibitory Notch ligand selectively and highly expressed on the cell surface of small cell lung cancer and neuroendocrine carcinoma, and appears to be a promising target for bispecific T-cell engager therapy. In this report, the most important headlines will be discussed, with comments on the clinical relevance of the different studies.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2024;18(4):164–75)

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Highlights of the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium 2024

BJMO - 2024, issue 3, may 2024

W. Lybaert MD

SUMMARY

This year’s conference was organised in San Francisco from 18–20th January 2024, again as a hybrid event. It was an excellent meeting, with TIGIT as new immune checkpoint target in oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Tinengotinib is a new fibroblast growth factor receptor (FGFR) inhibitor that enriches the armentarium for cholangiocarcinoma. Considering metastasis-directed therapy in oligometastatic pancreatic cancer is worth the effort. Shifting immunotherapy + angiogenesis inhibition to the transarterial chemoembolisation setting is the way forward in hepatocellular carcinoma. Nivolumab + ipilimumab is the second immunotherapy scheme that shows promising results in the first-line treatment of MSI-high/deficient mismatch repair (MMR) metastatic colorectal cancer. The prognostic role of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) in colorectal cancer stage II-III is highly consistent between studies, but its predictive role and how and which chemotherapy to use in case of ctDNA-positivity is more variable/immature at this moment and under active investigation. Top story of ASCO GI 2024 is peptide receptor radionuclide therapy (PRRT) entering the first-line treatment algorithm of high grade 2 and grade 3 gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours. In this report, the most important headlines will be discussed, with comments on the clinical relevance of the different studies.

(Belg J Med Oncol 2024;18(3):95–108)

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Highlights in head and neck cancer

BJMO - volume 17, issue 8, december 2023

W. Lybaert MD

SUMMARY

The ESMO Congress was held from 20 until 24th October 2023 in a live and virtual format. During this Congress, the selective RET inhibitor selpercatinib in comparison with cabozantinib or vandetanib settled a new standard-of-care in the first-line treatment of unresectable locally advanced or metastatic RET-mutant medullary thyroid cancer. A meta-analysis of the use of anti-EGFR monoclonal antibodies refined the place of cetuximab in locally advanced (LA) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Pembrolizumab seems more efficacious and less immunosuppressive in an adjuvant compared to concomitant setting in LA HNSCC. Detection of circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) seems feasible before and after curative-intent treatment for LA HNSCC and is strongly correlated with progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). In this report, the most important headlines will be discussed, with comments on the clinical relevance of the different studies.

(Belg J Med Oncol 2023;17(8):286–91)

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Highlights in head and neck cancer

BJMO - volume 17, issue 5, september 2023

W. Lybaert MD

SUMMARY

The ASCO Annual Meeting was held from 2–6 June 2023 in hybrid (live and virtual) format. During this meeting, neoadjuvant immunotherapy strategies are further entering the field of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Immunotherapy + chemotherapy gains an overall survival (OS) benefit in first-line recurrent/metastatic (R/M) NPC. Promising chemotherapy-free regimens are at the horizon in first- and second-line treatment of R/M HNSCC, though more studies in larger patient populations are needed. Treating salivary gland tumours with prostate cancer products was not successful in two studies shown during the meeting.

In this report, the most important headlines will be discussed, with comments on the clinical relevance of the different studies.

(Belg J Med Oncol 2023;17(5):157–68)

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Highlights from the European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society congress

BJMO - volume 17, issue 4, june 2023

W. Lybaert MD, T. Vandamme MD, PhD, L. Mariën MSc, O. Islam MD, S. Chhajlani MD, I. Van der Massen MSc, N. Ahmadi Bidakhvidi MD, C.M. Deroose MD, PhD

SUMMARY

The 2023 edition of the European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society (ENETS) congress was held in Vienna between 22nd and 24th March. This article aims to provide an overview of the most remarkable findings and insights presented during this congress.

(BELG J MED ONCOL 2023;17(4):139–49)

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