New drug development in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: The PI3-K inhibitors

•Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K) signaling plays a key role in tumorogenesis.•The role of PI3-K inhibitors is being tested in head and neck cancer (HNC).•This is the largest updated analysis of clinical trials in HNC patients.•This analysis suggests that PI3-K inhibitors could influence outcomes in HNC.

Over the last few years a number of new different compounds have been developed. They include phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K) inhibitors. Deregulation within the PI3-K pathway is common in head neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and it represents a growing area of research. PI3-K inhibitors, including BKM120, PX-866 and BYL719, are being tested in several phase I and phase II studies in patients with locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic disease.This review provides an update of published clinical trials and highlights the challenges of PI3-K inhibitors in HNSCC.