{"entity":{"id":"robert-ferris","kind":"person","name":"Robert L. Ferris","aka":[],"tldr":"Surgeon and immunologist who led CheckMate 141, the trial that made nivolumab the first drug to lengthen survival in head and neck cancer after platinum failure, and E3311 on transoral surgery for HPV-positive throat cancer.","summary":"Robert Ferris is a head and neck surgical oncologist and tumour immunologist who directed UPMC Hillman Cancer Center before becoming director of UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center in 2024. He was first author of the 2016 New England Journal of Medicine report of CheckMate 141, in which nivolumab improved overall survival compared with single-agent chemotherapy in platinum-refractory recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma, and of the 2022 Journal of Clinical Oncology report of ECOG-ACRIN E3311, which tested reduced-dose radiotherapy after transoral surgery in HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer.","asOf":"2026-09-18","links":[],"tags":["head-and-neck","immunotherapy","surgery","trialist"],"related":[],"cancers":["recurrent-metastatic-hnscc","hpv-positive-oropharyngeal-cancer","oropharyngeal-cancer","head-and-neck"],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":["unc-lineberger"],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":["paper-e3311-transoral-surgery-ferris-jco-2022","paper-checkmate-141-ferris-nejm-2016"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"role":"Head and neck surgeon and Director, UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center","institutionId":"unc-lineberger","specialisms":["Head and neck cancer","Tumour immunology","Transoral surgery"],"profiles":[{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Ferris%5BAuthor%5D"}],"papers":[]},"route":"/people/robert-ferris/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"head-and-neck","kind":"cancer","name":"Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/head-and-neck/"},{"id":"hpv-positive-oropharyngeal-cancer","kind":"cancer","name":"HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer","route":"/cancers/hpv-positive-oropharyngeal-cancer/"},{"id":"oropharyngeal-cancer","kind":"cancer","name":"Oropharyngeal cancer (tonsil and base of tongue)","route":"/cancers/oropharyngeal-cancer/"},{"id":"recurrent-metastatic-hnscc","kind":"cancer","name":"Recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/recurrent-metastatic-hnscc/"}],"institution":[{"id":"unc-lineberger","kind":"institution","name":"UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center","route":"/institutions/unc-lineberger/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-checkmate-141-ferris-nejm-2016","kind":"paper","name":"CheckMate 141: nivolumab for recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma after platinum","route":"/key-papers/paper-checkmate-141-ferris-nejm-2016/"},{"id":"paper-e3311-transoral-surgery-ferris-jco-2022","kind":"paper","name":"ECOG-ACRIN E3311: transoral surgery followed by reduced-dose radiotherapy for HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-e3311-transoral-surgery-ferris-jco-2022/"}]}}