Current Research

Research involving diagnostic procedures and treatments for oral and oropharyngeal cancer is ongoing. The following advancements 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.

New treatments. Many new treatments have become available as a result of improvement in the knowledge of the biology of cancer. Some of these treatments, including biologic therapy and targeted therapy, are available through clinical trials. Biologic therapy, also called immunotherapy, helps restore or stimulate the body’s immune system to fight the cancer. Targeted therapies, based upon the scientific advances in learning more about the molecular biology and characterization of head and neck cancers, are leading to approaches with less side effects in treating this type of cancer. Therapies being researched include tyrosine kinase inhibitors, antiangiogenic therapy (which prevents blood vessel formation that is needed for tumor growth), immune modulating approaches, and agents that induce cancer cell death. These and other developments are in various stages of research. Patients should talk with their doctors about clinical trials for treating oral and oropharyngeal cancer.

Radiofrequency thermal ablation (RFA). RFA uses heat to kill cancer cells. It is a minimally invasive treatment option that may be useful for localized tumors that cannot be removed by surgery.