PATH Trial: Personalized Approaches in the Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer

"All participants will undergo pre-radiotherapy fresh core biopsies of the tumour. DNA libraries will be created and stored for future analysis.~Participants with recurrence will have biopsy and subsequently will undergo rapid sequencing of RNA and DNA followed by bioinformatic analysis to identify somatic mutations or other abnormalities that might be drivers of an individual's cancer or predict response to therapies. These data will be compared to the literature and to a comprehensive database of drugs with the aim of identifying drugs most likely to target individual tumors based on the presence of mutated or abnormally expressed genes in the tumor. Any palliative systemic therapy treatment would be closely monitored for tolerability and response, as part of the general clinical care of someone on systemic therapy. The choice of systemic therapy will be up to the treating medical oncologist and the patient."