Lecture Details - Overview

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Continuing Education Information

Physicians' Education Resource is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Physicians' Education Resource designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Expert Interviews in Head and Neck Cancers

Release Date: January 29, 2010| Expiration Date: January 29, 2011
1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™| Jan 29, 2010, Expert Interviews

Lecture Overview

Targeted agents are changing the therapeutic landscape for squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN). Inhibitors of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and angiogenic pathways are being investigated, and antibodies to EGFR are approved for use with radiation therapy as treatment for locally advanced disease and as single-agent therapy in recurrent/metastatic disease. Research to identify predictive biomarkers for therapy is under way, and clinical trials are studying induction therapy and the combination of targeted agents with chemoradiation therapy in patients with locally advanced disease. Differential outcomes that correlate with the presence of the human papillomavirus (HPV) have led to the emergence of a distinct biological subset of SCCHN.

The purpose of this activity is to update physicians on SCCHN biology and the optimization of therapy through the use of biomarkers, induction therapy, and the addition of targeted agents to chemoradiation therapy.

Target Audience

This educational activity is intended for medical oncologists involved in the care of patients with locally advanced SCCHN. No specific skills or knowledge other than a basic training in oncology is required for successful participation in this activity.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this educational activity, you should be able to:

  • Discuss novel agents and efforts to identify predictive biomarkers in SCCHN
  • Evaluate the impact of HPV infection on the pathogenesis and progression of oropharyngeal head and neck cancers
  • Outline the selection of patients for induction chemotherapy in locally advanced SCCHN
  • Assess the efficacy of chemoradiation therapy with or without targeted agents in locally advanced SCCHN

Instructions for Participation

  1. Read the following information before entering the educational activity.
  2. Complete the Pretest.
  3. View the Flash video presentations and slides.
  4. Complete the Posttest.
  5. Answer the evaluation questions.
  6. After completion of the Pretest and successful completion of the Posttest and evaluation, you will receive your certificate online.

You will be permitted 2 attempts to successfully complete the Posttest.

Complete the test(s) and evaluation by January 29, 2011 to receive your certificate online.

Read all of the conditions in the Activity Terms box below. You must accept the CME Activity Terms in order to continue:

Disclosure Policy
It is the policy of Physicians’ Education Resource to ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all of its educational activities. As an organization accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), Physicians’ Education Resource requires everyone who is in a position to control the content of an educational activity, including spouses/partners, to disclose all relevant financial relationships with any commercial interest. The ACCME defines “relevant financial relationships” as financial relationships in any amount occurring within the past 12 months that create a conflict of interest. Physicians’ Education Resource has implemented a mechanism to identify and resolve all conflicts of interest prior to the activity.

Robert L. Ferris, MD, PhD, FACS
Research Funding – Amgen; Paid Consultant – Bristol-Myers Squibb Company

Maura Gillison, MD, PhD
No relevant relationships to disclose

Marshall Posner, MD
Research Funding – sanofi-aventis U.S.; Paid Consultant – Amgen, GlaxoSmithKline, OXiGENE, Inc., and EMD Pharmaceuticals, Inc./Merck KGaA

Ezra Cohen, MD
Paid Consultant – Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Eli Lilly and Company, sanofi-aventis U.S.; Speaker’s Bureau – Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Eli Lilly and Company, sanofi-aventis U.S.

PER Editorial Staff
No relevant relationships to disclose

This activity includes discussion of investigational and/or unlabeled uses of drugs, including the use of cetuximab in combination with chemoradiation therapy in locally advanced SCCHN and gefitinib, cetuximab plus chemotherapy or bevacizumab in recurrent/metastatic SCCHN.

Commercial Support
An educational grant for this activity was provided by Lilly USA, LLC.

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Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this learning activity are those of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor, supporter, or publisher. Although great care has been taken in compiling and checking the information given in this activity to ensure accuracy, the presenters and Physicians’ Education Resource and its servants or agents shall not be responsible or in any way liable for the continued currency of the information or for any errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this activity, whether arising from negligence or otherwise howsoever or for any consequences arising therefrom.

Please consult full prescribing information for any drugs or procedures discussed within.

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All rights reserved. No part of this activity may be translated, reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means or in any type of media form including electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording, broadcasting, or otherwise without prior permission from the publisher.

©Copyright 2010 by Physicians’ Education Resource. No material may be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form, without written permission from the publisher.

All correspondence should be directed to:
Editor, Expert Interviews in Head and Neck Cancers
Physicians’ Education Resource
3500 Maple Ave.
Suite 700
Dallas, TX 75219
Phone: (214) 367-3400
Fax: (214) 367-3304
E-mail: editor@cancerlearning.com

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Educational Grants

An educational grant for this activity was provided by:


  1. Lilly USA, LLC