Present therapy of head and neck cancer patients includes surgical pro
cedures, radiotherapy and sometimes chemotherapy. Over recent decades
no dramatic improvements have been obtained with these treatment modal
ities with respect to efficacy and associated morbidity. Of patients w
ith early stage disease (stage I and II), about 25% cannot be cured, w
hile for patients with advanced disease (stage III and IV) this percen
tage may he as high as 70%. However, owing to advances in our knowledg
e of molecular biology, immunology, (Mo)chemistry and biology of head
and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), new perspectives on therapy
are arising, After several years of optimization several new therapeut
ic approaches are leaving their infancy and are being evaluated in cli
nical trials with HNSCC patients, Among other approaches, photodynamic
therapy, gene therapy and antibody-based therapy are attracting most
attention, The basic concepts and the potential applications of these
treatment modalities in the management of head and neck cancer are dis
cussed in this paper.