Formation of an international intergroup to coordinate clinical trials in head and neck cancers: HNCIG

Clinical trials in head and neck cancer (HNC) face multiple challenges including low global incidence, excessive patient comorbidity rate, high treatment-related toxicity and more recently a changing tumor biology landscape. As clinical trials evolve to address new knowledge about HNC biology, the overall pool of eligible patients for each trial becomes smaller, leading to more accrual challenges. These challenges have led to the formation of the Head and Neck Cancer Intergroup (HNCIG) comprised of large HNC international and national cooperative groups and sites with the goal of facilitating the conduct of high quality clinical trials in a timely manner to improve outcomes in HNC. This article describes the objectives, structure, and activities of the HNCIG.