Do you always use platinum/5-FU as the chemo backbone with pembrolizumab for recurrent/metastatic H&N cancer?
Although platinum/5-FU was used in KEYNOTE-048, can an alternative like carbo/paclitaxel be given since it may be better tolerated?
Answer from: Medical Oncologist at Community Practice
I prefer to use carbo/taxol with pembrolizumab as well but there is no data to support this and I am having a hard time getting insurance providers to approve. It would be amazing if we can use mednet platform to create guidelines that might help this cause.
Also, I tend to do chemo+pembro for all ...
Answer from: Medical Oncologist at Community Practice
I prefer Carbo-paclitaxel-Pembrolizumab not only because I believe is better tolerated but also is easier for the patient (all given on day 1); however, I have encounter some payor issues with it
Answer from: Medical Oncologist at Academic Institution
I generally use chemotherapy plus pembrolizumab when patients have a significant burden of disease and who may derive greater symptom benefit from a greater response rate. KEYNOTE-048 used platinum/5-FU as the backbone, though I have found anecdotally that the 5-FU can be hard to tolerate and logist...