ESMO Asia 2023 | How molecular stratification can guide treatment of upper airway cancers and SCC

Brian Henick, MD, Columbia University Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, New York, NY, discusses immunotherapy and genetics-based treatments for upper airway cancers. Since a small population of patients with lung cancer, for example those with KRAS mutations, respond extremely well to immunotherapy, Dr Henick explains how these groups can be selected by splitting the population into molecularly driven subgroups that may particularly benefit. The same technique has been used in esophageal cancer to identify HER2-positive patients who also benefit from directed therapy. Dr Henick considers how this could translate to squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), which are more strongly associated with lifestyle factors; he outlines the TP-53 mutations, altered cell cycle and immunobiology that may be targets for future therapies, and how identifying the type of immune cells present could further guide this treatment. This interview took place at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Asia 2023 Congress in Singapore.

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