C.L. (Lotje) Zuur

Professor C.L. (Lotje) Zuur is a head and neck surgeon and senior research group leader in the Netherlands Cancer Institute Antoni van Leeuwenhoek in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

The goal of her translational research is to improve clinical outcomes in patients with advanced head and neck cancer either in terms of improved survival rates or of improved quality of life in cancer survivors.

This is realized by the discovery of novel drugs and/or the discovery of novel indications or applications of known drugs for head and neck cancer patients.

Recently, the MATISSE trial was successfully completed, in which patients with cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma were treated with neoadjuvant immunotherapy prior to extensive curative surgery w/wo adjuvant radiotherapy (RT).

In MATISSE, patients have proven the concept that organ preservation and cure can be achieve via ultra-short immunotherapy, while withholding and ultimately omitting standard of care surgery and RT.

In her presentation, she will discuss the future role of immunotherapy in the curative setting of head and neck cancer patients.