What are your top takeaways in Head & Neck Cancers from ASCO 2025?

The phase 3 KEYNOTE-689 and the phase 3 NIVOPOSTOP. A key distinction is that KEYNOTE-689 incorporated both neoadjuvant and adjuvant immunotherapy, while NIVOPOSTOP restricted immunotherapy to the adjuvant phase and specifically targeted patients with high-risk features (+ margins and ECS) post-surgery. Both trials were designed to define the optimal integration of ICIs in curative-intent treatment for HNSCC, and both trials incorporated a year of adjuvant ICI therapy.

KEYNOTE-689 demonstrated t...

ASCO 2025 had several interesting abstracts for head and neck cancers. The following abstracts could reshape the landscape of locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma by finally showing improvement in outcomes with PD-1 inhibitors in the curative setting. Hopefully, these trials mark the beginning of novel combinations with immunotherapy in the curative setting and continue to lead to new approvals and improvement in outcomes for head and neck cancer patients.

The following present...

ASCO 2025 included several interesting presentations regarding the role of
immunotherapy in the primary therapy of HNC, skin squamous, CCA, and NPC. While Immunotherapy has been established as first-line therapy in R/M HNC, its role in the primary therapy has not yet been clear.

Phase III studies like the JAVELIN HN100 and KEYNOTE-412 demonstrated that RT with concurrent and adjuvant chemo-immunotherapy was not superior to CRT alone in locoregionally advanced HNC. Explanations for these failures i...