Formation of an international intergroup to coordinate clinical trials in head and neck cancers: HNCIG

Quynh Thu Le; John J Welch; Jan B Vermorken; Danny Rischin; Hisham Mehanna; all HNCIG investigators

doi:10.1016/j.oraloncology.2017.05.022

Formation of an international intergroup to coordinate clinical trials in head and neck cancers: HNCIG

Oral Oncol. 2017 Aug:71:180-183. doi: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2017.05.022. Epub 2017 Jun 22.

Authors

Quynh Thu Le¹, John J Welch², Jan B Vermorken³, Danny Rischin⁴, Hisham Mehanna⁵; all HNCIG investigators

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA. Electronic address: qle@stanford.edu.
² Center for Global Health, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA. Electronic address: jack.welch@nih.govc.
³ Antwerp University Hospital, Edegem, and University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium. Electronic address: JanB.Vermorken@uza.be.
⁴ Peter McCallum Cancer Centre & University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Electronic address: Danny.Rischin@petermac.org.
⁵ Institute of Head & Neck Studies and Education, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK. Electronic address: H.Mehanna@bham.ac.uk.

PMID: 28648362
DOI: 10.1016/j.oraloncology.2017.05.022

Abstract

Clinical trials in head and neck cancer (HNC) face multiple challenges including low global incidence, excessive patient comorbidity rate, high treatment-related toxicity and more recently a changing tumor biology landscape. As clinical trials evolve to address new knowledge about HNC biology, the overall pool of eligible patients for each trial becomes smaller, leading to more accrual challenges. These challenges have led to the formation of the Head and Neck Cancer Intergroup (HNCIG) comprised of large HNC international and national cooperative groups and sites with the goal of facilitating the conduct of high quality clinical trials in a timely manner to improve outcomes in HNC. This article describes the objectives, structure, and activities of the HNCIG.

Keywords: Clinical trials as topic; Consensus; Head and neck neoplasms; Investigational; Meta-analysis as topic; Organizations; Oropharyngeal neoplasms; Therapies.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Clinical Trials as Topic*
Head and Neck Neoplasms / therapy*
Humans
Meta-Analysis as Topic