Prof Jean Bourhis speaks to ecancer at ESMO 2019 in Barcelona about the results from the phase II GORTEC study, which compared concurrent high-dose cisplatin chemoradiation (CRT) plus debio 1143 or placebo in high-risk patients with locally advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

He explains the rationale for this study, which includes the synergy between debio 1143 and cisplatin chemoradiation observed in preclinical studies.

Prof Bourhis also outlines the design and results from this randomised, phase II trial, in which the progression-free survival was nearly doubled in patients treated with debio 1143 compared to placebo.

He concludes by stating that a larger trial testing the same hypothesis is needed to confirm these results of this trial and mentions these agents may have potential use in other cancer types also.