{"entity":{"id":"barbara-burtness","kind":"person","name":"Barbara Burtness","aka":[],"tldr":"Led KEYNOTE-048, which made pembrolizumab first-line therapy for recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer.","summary":"Barbara Burtness (Yale Cancer Center) was principal investigator of KEYNOTE-048, which showed pembrolizumab alone or with chemotherapy improves survival over the EXTREME regimen in recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, establishing PD-1 blockade first line. She chaired the ECOG-ACRIN head and neck committee for many years and led the early cetuximab trials in the disease.","asOf":"2026-09-10","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Burtness","links":[{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Burtness%20B%5BAuthor%5D%20head%20neck%20pembrolizumab"}],"tags":["head-and-neck","immunotherapy","ecog-acrin"],"related":[],"cancers":["head-and-neck"],"sections":[],"technologies":["checkpoint-inhibitor"],"targets":["pd1","egfr"],"drugs":["pembrolizumab"],"companies":[],"institutions":["yale-cancer-center"],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":["keynote-048"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":["paper-keynote-048-lancet-2019"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"role":"Professor of Medicine and Co-Leader, Developmental Therapeutics, Yale Cancer Center","institutionId":"yale-cancer-center","specialisms":["Head and neck cancer","Immunotherapy","Cooperative-group trials","HPV-associated cancer"],"profiles":[{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Burtness%20B%5BAuthor%5D%20head%20neck%20pembrolizumab"}],"papers":[{"title":"Pembrolizumab alone or with chemotherapy versus cetuximab with chemotherapy for recurrent or metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (KEYNOTE-048)","journal":"Lancet","year":2019,"doi":"10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32591-7"},{"title":"Phase III randomized trial of cisplatin plus placebo compared with cisplatin plus cetuximab in metastatic/recurrent head and neck cancer: an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group study","journal":"JCO","year":2005,"doi":"10.1200/JCO.2005.02.147"},{"title":"KEYNOTE-048: pembrolizumab, alone or with chemotherapy, as first treatment for recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer","journal":"The Lancet","year":2019,"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=KEYNOTE-048+pembrolizumab+head+and+neck+Burtness+Lancet+2019"}],"orcid":"0000-0003-4660-1859"},"route":"/people/barbara-burtness/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"head-and-neck","kind":"cancer","name":"Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/head-and-neck/"}],"technology":[{"id":"checkpoint-inhibitor","kind":"technology","name":"Immune checkpoint inhibitors","route":"/technologies/checkpoint-inhibitor/"}],"target":[{"id":"egfr","kind":"target","name":"EGFR","route":"/targets/egfr/"},{"id":"pd1","kind":"target","name":"PD-1","route":"/targets/pd1/"}],"drug":[{"id":"pembrolizumab","kind":"drug","name":"Pembrolizumab","route":"/drugs/pembrolizumab/"}],"institution":[{"id":"yale-cancer-center","kind":"institution","name":"Yale Cancer Center / Smilow Cancer Hospital","route":"/institutions/yale-cancer-center/"}],"trial":[{"id":"keynote-048","kind":"trial","name":"KEYNOTE-048","route":"/trials/keynote-048/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-keynote-048-lancet-2019","kind":"paper","name":"KEYNOTE-048: pembrolizumab, alone or with chemotherapy, as first treatment for recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-keynote-048-lancet-2019/"}]}}