Quynh-Thu Le, MD (Stanford School of Medicine, Palo Alto) has been appointed Head and Neck Cancer Committee Chair for the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), an international National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded clinical trials research group. Le is professor and chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Stanford University where she has been engaged in leading both single and multicenter clinical trials and is a strong supporter of the conduct of RTOG head and neck cancer trials. “Offering our patients the opportunity to participate in RTOG’s research testing new treatment strategies for patients with head and neck cancer is very rewarding,” says Le who has been a member of the RTOG’s Head and Neck Cancer Committee since 2004 and will assume the chair role beginning in January 2012.
Le also serves on RTOG’s Lung Cancer Committee as a liaison to the group’s Translational Research Program. “Dr. Le’s extensive biomarker research background will be invaluable in continuing to advance RTOG’s translational research efforts,” says Walter J. Curran, Jr., MD, RTOG Group Chair and Executive Director of the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University in Atlanta. “As cancer research strives to develop more personalized treatment strategies, scientific leadership with experience in the design of clinical trials integrating biomarkers is critical, and we are very fortunate to have Dr. Le agree to lead the Head and Neck Cancer Committee.”
The treatment of head and neck cancer is a changing landscape, and Le looks forward to working with committee members to establish the future research direction. “I am especially interested in the development of phase I and II trials for the patients who test negative for human papillomavirus (HPV), as this is a heterogeneous population. We need to work on identifying those subpopulations who will respond to specific chemotherapy and radiation therapy regimens,” says Le. “There are exciting data emerging in the arena of genomic sequencing that may prove helpful in developing and testing new treatment options.”
Dr. Le has had aspirations for an RTOG leadership role since she worked as a resident at the University of California, San Francisco with mentor and longtime RTOG Head and Neck Cancer Committee Chair Karen Fu, MD. “I considered this the ultimate dream job as a resident; so, the opportunity to now assume the chair role is very gratifying,” comments Le.
Le succeeds K. Kian Ang, MD, PhD (MD Anderson, Houston) who had served as Head and Neck Cancer Committee Chair since 1999. “Dr. Ang built a very strong committee and leaves with an impressive research legacy,” says Curran, “including his solid leadership as the principal investigator of the RTOG 0522 trial (A Randomized Phase III Trial of Concurrent Accelerated Radiation Plus Cisplatin With or Without Cetuximab for Stage III-IV Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas), and I have great confidence that Dr. Le will successfully continue that legacy.”