Integrating Immunotherapy into Multimodal Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer

• Published in: Cancers Vol. 15; no. 3; p. 672
• Main Authors: Rao, Yuan James, Goodman, Joseph F, Haroun, Faysal, Bauman, Julie E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 21-01-2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Antigens; Apoptosis; Cancer therapies; Care and treatment; Chemotherapy; Clinical trials; Cytokines; Cytotoxicity; Fibroblasts; Head & neck cancer; Head and neck cancer; Head and neck carcinoma; Immune checkpoint inhibitors; Immune system; Immunotherapy; Infections; Lymphocytes; Medical prognosis; Metastases; Metastasis; Methods; Patients; PD-1 protein; Radiation; Radiation therapy; Review; Squamous cell carcinoma; Surgery; Tumors; United States; immunochemoradiotherapy; radiation; immunotherapy; immune checkpoint inhibitors; chemotherapy; head and neck squamous cell carcinoma; surgery
• ISSN: 2072-6694; 2072-6694
• DOI: 10.3390/cancers15030672

Patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) have a poor prognosis, with a significant risk of progression or death despite multimodal treatment with surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. Immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting the programmed death receptor-1 (PD1) have dramatically changed the treatment landscape for recurrent/metastatic disease, improving overall survival in both the first- and second-line palliative settings. This success has driven the investigation of treatment strategies incorporating immunotherapy earlier into the multimodal curative-intent or salvage treatment of both locally advanced and recurrent/metastatic HNSCC. This review encompassed the following three subjects, with a focus on recently reported and ongoing clinical trials: (1) the use of neoadjuvant immunotherapy prior to surgery for locally advanced HNSCC, (2) the use of immunochemoradiotherapy for locally advanced head and neck cancers, and (3) novel uses of immunotherapy in the salvage of recurrent/metastatic HNSCC via a combined modality, including reirradiation paradigms. The results of these studies are eagerly awaited to improve patient outcomes in this challenging disease.