Future investigative directions for novel therapeutic targets in head and neck cancer.

Areas Covered: Here we describe novel agents, their mechanism(s) of action, preclinical results, and ongoing clinical trials in HNSCC.

Expert Opinion: Established therapeutic targets in HNSCC include EGFR (cetuximab) and PD-1 (pembrolizumab and nivolumab). Despite the detection of many other possible targets in HNSCC cell lines and patient tumors, no other therapies have successfully advanced to date.