In the past year, clinical trials have provided important information on strategies to decrease treatment-associated toxicities in patients with head and neck cancer. In addition, the FDA approved the first immunotherapeutic agents for patients with recurrent and/or metastatic disease, based on the observation of durable responses to pembrolizumab in a phase Ib trial, and demonstration of improved survival and quality of life with the use of nivolumab versus chemotherapy in a phase III trial.
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A.P.A. receives research support from Acerta, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, MedImmune, Merck, Novartis, and OncoSec. J.R.G. declares no competing interests.
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Algazi, A., Grandis, J. A watershed year for improvements in treatment?. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 14, 76–78 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2016.196
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2016.196
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