The Keystone Program in Head and Neck Cancer

The Opportunity

“Surgery is a very effective first line treatment for head and neck cancer, particularly at an early stage. However, we need new options that increase the prospects for survival in later-stage cancer, without the disadvantages of our current treatment options.”
– John A. “Drew” Ridge, M.D., Ph.D.

Cancers of the head and neck are painful and disfiguring. In the year 2008, nearly 50,000 people in the United State will be diagnosed with head and neck cancer, which include cancers of the lips and mouth, throat, voicebox, and of the nose and sinuses. Overall, head and neck cancer has survival rate of about 50 percent.

In the past, treatments for head and neck cancers relied predominantly on the combination of surgery and radiation, which often left survivors with permanent impairment in speech and swallowing. Often there were substantial changes in appearance. Even the addition of modern chemotherapy (which, in conjunction with radiation treatment, has made it possible to limit surgery in many cases), all too many patients have profound side effects and decline in quality of life. However, recent advances in the laboratory and the clinic raise the promise of more effective, better-tolerated treatments, and a significantly higher chance of cure.

This highly integrated Keystone Program has assembled investigators from many fields to attack the problem of head and neck cancer. Leveraging cutting-edge insights from molecular modeling, systems biology, and high throughput screening, program scientists are engaged in the development of new combination therapies, and in the creation of new therapeutic agents. Keystone investigators intend to reduce the overall incidence of head and neck cancers, and to devise the optimal treatment strategies for individual patients in collaboration with the Institute for Personalized Medicine.