Internal medicine

Cancer

Surgery

Oncology

Head and neck cancer

Chemotherapy

Head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma

Larynx

Head and neck

Basal cell

Radiation therapy

Clinical trial

Medicine

Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology

Head and neck cancers are a heterogeneous collection of malignancies of the upper aerodigestive tract, salivary glands and thyroid. In this Review, we primarily focus on the changing therapeutic landscape of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) that can arise in the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx and larynx. We highlight developments in surgical and non-surgical therapies (mainly involving the combination of radiotherapy and chemotherapy), outlining how these treatments are being used in the current era of widespread testing for the presence of human papillomavirus infection in patients with HNSCC. Finally, we describe the clinical trials that led to the approval of the first immunotherapeutic agents for HNSCC, and discuss the development of strategies to decrease the toxicity of different treatment modalities. The authors of this Review discuss treatments currently available for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (focusing in those of the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx and larynx). Advances in surgical and non-surgical approaches (mainly combinations of radiotherapy and chemotherapy) are discussed, including the first immunotherapeutic agents approved for these malignancies.

The changing therapeutic landscape of head and neck cancer