Advances in the systemic treatment of head and neck cancers

To summarize the recent literature on the treatment of recurrent and metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

Multiple targeted therapies and novel combinations of chemotherapeutic agents were tested.

In a large randomized phase III trial, the addition of cetuximab to platin-based chemotherapy led to a significant prolongation of overall survival. The combination of cetuximab and platin/5-fluorouracil should be considered the current standard first-line regimen. In contrast, the results with oral tyrosine kinase inhibitors and other targeted agents have been disappointing thus far.