Head and neck cancers start in the mouth, throat, voice box, sinuses, or salivary glands. Most are linked to tobacco, alcohol, or HPV infection. Treatment typically combines surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, but these can cause lasting problems with swallowing, speech, and appearance. Survival depends heavily on stage at diagnosis.
What's actually going on in research
Trials are testing immunotherapy combinations that may shrink tumors before surgery, targeted drugs for HPV-positive cancers, and precision radiation techniques that spare healthy tissue. Researchers are also studying drugs to prevent or treat the severe mouth sores and swallowing problems that follow radiation, and are testing blood tests that might detect recurrence earlier than scans.
Immunotherapy combinations
Drugs like pembrolizumab and nivolumab are being tested before surgery to shrink tumors and potentially avoid more extensive operations. Trials are also combining immunotherapy with chemotherapy or radiation to improve cure rates.
HPV-targeted approaches
Since HPV-positive throat cancers respond better to treatment, trials are testing whether these patients can receive less intense therapy to reduce long-term side effects. Other studies are exploring targeted drugs specific to HPV-driven tumors.
Supportive care
New drugs aim to prevent severe mucositis, the painful mouth inflammation that often interrupts radiation treatment. Researchers are also testing approaches to restore swallowing function and reduce long-term complications.
What to know before you search
Eligibility typically depends on cancer site and stage, HPV status, prior treatments, and whether the tumor can be removed surgically.
What types of trials are currently open
- Immunotherapy trials — Testing checkpoint inhibitors like pembrolizumab or nivolumab, often before surgery or combined with chemotherapy or radiation.
- De-escalation trials — For HPV-positive cancers, testing whether lower doses of radiation or chemotherapy can cure the disease with fewer side effects.
- Targeted therapy trials — Testing drugs that target specific mutations or proteins found in head and neck tumors, such as EGFR or PI3K inhibitors.
- Radiation technique trials — Comparing different radiation delivery methods, including proton therapy and intensity-modulated techniques, to reduce damage to swallowing muscles and salivary glands.
- Supportive care trials — Testing treatments for mucositis, dry mouth, difficulty swallowing, and other complications of cancer treatment.
Recently added Head And Neck Cancer trials
Methylation Profile Test (Methylscape) in Body Fluids for Multi-Cancer Detection and Monitoring in Colombia
DNA methylation changes occur early and broadly during carcinogenesis. Methylscape is a rapid assay that detects global DNA methylation patterns in body fluids (blood, urine, and saliva) and may detect a cancer signal and predict the cancer signal origin (CSO) from a single fluid sample, using the differential interaction between methylated and unmethylated DNA and gold nanoparticles. This prospective observational study evaluates the diagnostic performance (sensitivity and specificity) of the Methylscape test in Colombian patients with various biopsy-confirmed solid tumors compared with age- and sex-matched cancer-free (healthy) volunteers. The study is conducted in three parts: Phase 1 validates the assay in 250 patients with cancer; Sub-study 2a compares 1,500 patients with cancer against 1,500 matched cancer-free volunteers; and Sub-study 2b uses serial blood and urine sampling in 300 patients with early-stage disease to assess detection of disease relapse during follow-up, in parallel with standard imaging. The study also estimates positive and negative predictive values (PPV/NPV) and projects the budget impact and cost-effectiveness of Methylscape as a multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tool in an upper-middle-income Latin American setting.
Take an immune therapy combined with chemotherapy and radiation
A total of 120 patients with unresectable, locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma patients will be enrolled in this study and randomly divided into two groups. Arm A: After 2 cycles of induction adebrelimab plus chemotherapy, patients will be treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (50.4Gy/1.8Gy/28f), and adebrelimab will maintain to PD or for a maximum of 15 cycles. Arm B: Patients will be treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (50.4Gy/1.8Gy/28f) and adebrelimab will maintain to PD or for a maximum of 17 cycles. This study will compare the efficacy of immunotherapy in the induction and maintenance phases of radiotherapy, optimize more precise treatment plans, and potentially further increase the survival of ESCC patients.
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