Critical Issues in Head and Neck Oncology

Prof. Jan B. Vermorken, MD, PhD, started his medical training in 1961, graduated in 1970 from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and became a board-certified specialist in internal medicine in 1975. Since that time he has worked in the field of Medical Oncology and was officially registered as a Medical Oncologist in the Netherlands in 1992. He received his PhD in Medical Sciences in 1986 from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. From May 1997 until October 1, 2009, he was appointed Professor of Oncology at the University Of Antwerp (UA), in Antwerp, Belgium and head of the Department of Medical Oncology at the University Hospital Antwerp (UZA), in Edegem, Belgium. After his retirement he remained connected to both University (Emeritus Professor) and University Hospital (consultant). His main fields of interest are head and neck oncology and gynecologic oncology. He chaired both the Head and Neck Cancer Group (2006-2009) and the Gynecologic Cancer Group (1983-1989) of the European Organization for the Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). He was founding chair of the Gynecologic Cancer InterGroup (GCIG: 1997-2003) and strongly involved in establishing the Head and Neck Cancer International Group (HNCIG) in 2015. Professor Vermorken is member of various scientific societies, member of several editorial boards of International journals, reviewer of multiple cancer journals and author or co-author of more than 700 publications. He was Editor-in-Chief of Annals of Oncology from 2009 to 2014 and is chief editor of the head and neck cancer section of The Oncologist (since 2003), and the head and neck section of Frontiers in Oncology (since 2015), is editorial chair of ONCOhemato (multidisciplinary journal; since 2007) in Belgium and chaired Oncotherapie (an internet platform) in The Netherlands (2007-2020). He received the ESMO award in 2007 and on March 1, 2013 he received the title of Commander in the Order of Leopold for his contributions to oncology.

Professor Hans Langendijk received his residence training in Radiation Oncology in the Radiotherapeutic Institute in Heerlen and Maastricht (currently MAASTRO), which he completed in 1997. From 1997 to 2004, he worked at the Department of Radiation Oncology of the VU University Medical Center. During that period, he became specialised in head and neck radiation oncology. Since October 2004, he is professor and chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology of the University Medical Center Groningen. His special interests are head and neck oncology, prediction, prevention and treatment of radiation-induced side effects and methodologies to develop and validate new radiation techniques, such as proton therapy. Hans Langendijk is initiator and coordinator of numerous clinical (multicenter) trials. He is (co-) author of more than 500 papers and book chapters especially on head and neck oncology, radiation-induced side effects and proton therapy. He is co-chair of the PTCOG Head and Neck Cancer Subcommittee. In 2020, he has been elected as chair of the Netherlands Society for Radiation Oncology (NVRO). He is the founder of the model-based approach, which is currently used in the Netherlands, as an evidence-based methodology to select patients for proton therapy.

Professor C. René Leemans, MD, PhD is chair of the Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at the Amsterdam University Medical Centre,  Amsterdam. He is Director of the Advanced Fellowship Program in Head and Neck Surgery and Oncology. His special interests include head and neck oncology, reconstructive and microvascular surgery, and basic research. René Leemans has made a sustained and internationally recognized contribution to cancer care and research in the field of head and neck oncology over the past decades. His scientific standing has been recognized by election as President of the Netherlands Society of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, and the Dutch and European Head and Neck Societies. He also served on the Leadership of the American Head and Neck Society (AHNS). He (co-)authored more than 600 papers and book chapters on head and neck oncology and is regularly invited to speak at international conferences and tutor at courses. He leads the successful Make Sense Awareness Campaign.

Professor Jean-Pascal Machiels MD, PhD, is head of department of medical oncology and director of the Institut Roi Albert II Cancer centre, Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain), Brussels Belgium. He trained at Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium, where he gained his MD in 1993 and his PhD in 2001 and at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore USA, where he was a Fellow in Medical Oncology from 1998 until 2000. His main interests include Head and Neck cancer, and phase 1 clinical trials. He has published more than two hundred papers reporting on clinical trials and translational research Professor Piero Nicolai, MD, is Head of the Section of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Department of Neurosciences, at the Azienda Ospedale Università di Padova and Professsor of Otorhinolaryngology at the University of Padova. From 2006 to 2019 he has served as Professor and Chairman of the Unit of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at ASST Spedali Civili Brescia - University of Brescia. He received his MD degree at the University of Padova, where he completed his residency program in Otorhinolaryngology and subsequently in Oncology. His clinical and research activities are mainly focused on head and neck oncology and endoscopic sinus and skull base surgery. Prof. Nicolai has authored or co-authored 389 papers in peer-reviewed journals as well as 61 book chapters. He has been co-editor of 6 books, and Editor of 6 issues of Current Opinion in Otolaryngology & Head and Neck Surgery on Head and Neck Oncology. He is a member of the editorial board of the journals Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology, Head and Neck, International Journal of Head & Neck Surgery, The Laryngoscope, and Associate Editor of Frontiers in Oncology – Head and Neck Cancer Section. Professor Brian O’Sullivan, MD, is the inaugural Bartley-Smith/Wharton Chair (Emeritus) in Radiation Oncology and immediate past Chair of the Head and Neck Program at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University of Toronto. He has Co-chaired the Head and Neck Steering committee of the US National Cancer Institute and is Editor-in Chief of the UICC Manual of Clinical Oncology, Chair of the UICC Prognostic Factors Classification Committee, Chair of the UICC Head and Neck Committee, and co-editor of the UICC TNM Classification of Malignant Tumours and Liaison to the AJCC Expert Committee on Head and Neck Cancer. He is also a recognized expert in the management of sarcoma and a past-President of the Connective Tissue Oncology Society (CTOS). He has published more than 700 manuscripts more than 460 of which are peer-reviewed. Professor O’Sullivan has received some of the top awards in radiation oncology including the Juan A del Regato Gold Medal, the award of Honor of the Radiological Society of North America, and the American Society of Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Gold Medal.