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2022 Research Round Up: Head and Neck Cancer, Brain Tumors, and Health Equity

2022 Research Round Up: Head and Neck Cancer, Brain Tumors, and Health Equity

FromCancer.Net Podcast


2022 Research Round Up: Head and Neck Cancer, Brain Tumors, and Health Equity

FromCancer.Net Podcast

ratings:
Length:
29 minutes
Released:
Aug 25, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

ASCO: You’re listening to a podcast from Cancer.Net. This cancer information website is produced by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, known as ASCO, the voice of the world's oncology professionals. The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guests’ statements on this podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement. Cancer research discussed in this podcast is ongoing, so data described here may change as research progresses. In the Research Round Up series, ASCO experts and members of the Cancer.Net Editorial Board discuss the most exciting and practice-changing research in their field and explain what it means for people with cancer. In today’s episode, our guests will discuss new research in head and neck cancer, brain tumors, and health equity that was presented at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting, held June 3-7 in Chicago, Illinois. First, Dr. Cristina Rodriguez will discuss 2 studies on new treatment options for locally advanced head and neck cancer. Dr. Rodriguez is a medical oncologist at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, an Associate Professor in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Washington, and an Associate Member for solid tumor clinical research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She is also the Cancer.Net Associate Editor for Head and Neck Cancers. You can view Dr. Rodriguez’s disclosures at Cancer.Net. Dr. Rodriguez: Hello. My name is Christina Rodriguez. I'm a medical oncologist with a clinical and research focus on head and neck cancer. And today I'm going to discuss research on head and neck cancer that was presented at the most recent 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting. I don't have any relationship to disclose that pertains to the research that I will talk about today. I'd like to discuss 2 abstracts that I thought were practice changing or practice affirming that really addresses some of the key questions that patients and doctors like me have about the treatment of patients with head and neck cancer. So, as you know, most patients with head and neck cancer present with typically locally advanced disease, and most head and neck cancer patients are treated with the intent of curing them most of the time with the use of radiation either as the main treatment or after surgery. And many clinical trials have shown that when we add a chemotherapy called cisplatin to radiation, we improve curative outcomes for patients. But the first abstract that I will talk about, abstract 6003, asks the question "What do we do for patients who are not candidates for cisplatin chemotherapy?" And we know that a significant proportion of our patients will have other medical problems that could make it difficult for us to give chemotherapy and often will result in complications or more toxicity or in side effects for patients. This clinical trial was carried out in India, and it compared radiation alone for patients with head and neck cancer versus radiation given with a non-cisplatin chemotherapy called docetaxel. What's unique about this clinical trial is that it's specifically focused on patients who were not candidates for cisplatin chemotherapy, something that really hasn't been done for this population. Interestingly enough, they found that when we give docetaxel with radiation in these patients, we find that they do better, they live longer, and they feel better based on quality-of-life questionnaires. So I will say that this study, abstract 6003, tells us that even in patients who are not candidates for cisplatin to be given with radiation, there is an alternative treatment that we can use, such as docetaxel given with radiation, that might still improve patie
Released:
Aug 25, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Cancer.Net Podcast features trusted, timely, and compassionate information for people with cancer, survivors, their families, and loved ones. Expert tips on coping with cancer, recaps of the latest research advances, and thoughtful discussions on cancer care