Advances in chemotherapy for head and neck cancer

Systemic chemotherapy is increasingly being used with radiotherapy for the radical treatment of advanced head and neck cancers. Chemotherapy offers modest benefits in the metastatic setting. Platinum containing agents are the most active drugs and form the mainstay of most chemotherapy schedules. In recent years taxanes have been shown activity in head and neck cancers and are being incorporated into neo-adjuvant and concomitant chemotherapy regimens. Targeted agents EGFR inhibitors like cetuximab, in particular have shown benefit in the metastatic and the concomitant setting. EGFR inhibitors and other targeted agents form the thrust of pre-clinical and clinical research into systemic treatment of head and neck cancer.