Research for head and neck cancer is ongoing. The following advances may still be under investigation in clinical trials and may not be approved or available at this current time. Always discuss all diagnostic and treatment options with your doctor.
Combined therapies. Most research for head and neck cancers focuses on combining different types of treatments to improve the effectiveness and the patient’s quality of life.
Radiofrequency thermal ablation (RFA). Used on a localized tumor that cannot be removed by surgery, RFA is a minimally invasive treatment option that applies heat to the tumor.
Gene therapy. Gene therapy is a targeted form of treatment that uses biologic gene manipulation to change bits of genetic code in a person’s cells. Although gene therapy is relatively new, it appears to show promising potential for treating head and neck cancer.
Photodynamic therapy. In photodynamic therapy, a light-sensitive substance is injected into the tumor that stays longer in cancer cells than in normal cells. A laser is directed at the tumor, which destroys the cancer cells. Photodynamic therapy is currently used to relieve swallowing problems for a brief period; it is not a curative therapy.
Proton therapy. Proton radiation therapy can be used as a boost (part of treatment) to reduce normal tissue toxicity. It can be used as part of the treatment for some skull-base tumors (for example, nasopharynx, chordoma [a rare tumor that usually occurs in the spine and base of the skull], chondrosarcoma [a cartilage-based tumor]) to further limit the radiation dose to normal structures, such as the optic nerves and brainstem.
HPV. Research continues regarding the link between HPV and head and neck cancers, both in terms of why this virus raises the risk for the disease and why it may affect treatment results in some cases. Investigation is also underway about whether the HPV vaccine, currently used to prevent cervical cancer, is effective in preventing head and neck cancers as well.
In addition, there are many valuable, ongoing investigations of new types of chemotherapy and multi-modality studies (where more than one treatment approach is used).
Last Updated: May 29, 2009
