New hope for patients with head and neck cancer

UC Davis scientists use federal research grant to test three-prong cure for head and neck cancer that includes a common blood pressure drug

(SACRAMENTO)

Head and neck cancers are among the most difficult to treat. They can be aggressive and are located near some of the body’s most vital areas: nose, mouth, throat. Chemotherapy and radiation have been the primary weapons against tumors that cannot be surgically removed, but the results in advanced cancers have been poor.

Immunotherapies have great potential to improve this landscape. These drugs recruit immune T cells to attack tumors — harnessing the body’s preexisting defense mechanisms to defeat cancer. Unfortunately, this approach is also a work in progress.

But now, researchers at UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center have initiated an innovative clinical trial to provide better results against head and neck cancers. It combines the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab, also known as KEYTRUDA, and a commonly prescribed blood pressure medication losartan, sold as COSAAR, with a new therapeutic radiation. Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) is different than conventional radiation in that it uses multiple beams of energy to shrink tumors. Read more at this LINK.