Juliette Thariat, Professor in Radiation Oncology at Centre Baclesse, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“A paradigm shift in oligometastatic head and neck cancer (and many other disease sites)!
Nine years after being invited to speak at ASCO about an emerging paradigm shift, I was delighted to return to this topic at ESMO Madrid, this time with a considerably stronger body of evidence.
From SABR-COMET to GORTEC 2024-04 OMET, stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) is becoming an integral part of multidisciplinary treatment strategies in head and neck oncology, increasingly embraced by medical oncologists as a powerful partner to systemic therapies, including immunotherapy.
And innovation continues: treating more metastatic sites, exploring lattice Stereotactic RT for bulky lesions, and optimizing radiation plans to spare circulating blood and lymphoid structures, potentially preserving immune function and enhancing antitumor responses.
It is particularly rewarding to see radiotherapy reclaiming its central role in modern oncology, not in competition with systemic treatments, but through their intelligent integration.
Progress happens when disciplines, people and institutions come together. Academic investigators, industry innovators, cooperative groups such as Intergroupe ORL , international societies such as ESMO / ESTRO, and collaborative clinical trial networks are the true engines of practice-changing innovation.
Grateful to the colleagues, investigators and partners who challenge established approaches and collectively turn scientific advances into better patient care.
The paradigm shift is no longer just a promise. It is becoming clinical practice, and the next chapters (lymphocyte-sparing SABR, high risk high gain particle therapy…) are already being written.”
You can also read: OrigAMI-4 at ESMO 2026: Amivantamab Plus Pembrolizumab and Carboplatin Shows 77% Response Rate in Head and Neck Cancer
