title: Immunotherapy for head and neck cancer: the future of treatment?
abstract: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer worldwide with >500,000 cases diagnosed each year. HNSCC patients often present to the clinic with advanced disease and are managed with a multi-disciplinary approach consisting of surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiation. Morbidity and quality of life issues are major challenges in this patient population due to the debilitating effects of standard of care treatment paradigms. There is a critical need for new therapeutic approaches to manage HNSCC with better anti-tumor activities and toxicity profiles. Immunotherapy has gained traction as a precision medicine initiative to manage solid malignancies. Areas covered: The authors review current knowledge of immune escape mechanisms and discuss key immunotherapies in HNSCC with an emphasis on clinical trials data. Expert opinion: The excitement over the potential of immunotherapy to manage solid malignancies, including HNSCC is high and warranted based on the impressive clinical data accrued to date. Research in immunity and immune modulation in cancer has been invigorated and offers the potential to reveal novel vulnerabilities that may be exploitable pharmacologically. The evolution of immunotherapy will continue and move toward rational combinations with other immunotherapies or molecularly-targeted agents in the first-line, adjuvant, and recurrent/metastatic settings in HNSCC.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery , The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center , Columbus , OH , USA.
authors.forename: Xiujie
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: a Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery , The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center , Columbus , OH , USA.
authors.forename: Wendi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: O'Neill
authors.affiliation: b Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery , The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center , Columbus , OH , USA.|c Translational Therapeutics Program , The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center , Columbus , OH , USA.
authors.forename: Quintin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Pan
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D019496:Cancer Vaccines / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000628:therapy; D016207:Cytokines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D060908:CTLA-4 Antigen; D019496:Cancer Vaccines; D016207:Cytokines; C105992:PDCD1 protein, human; D061026:Programmed Cell Death 1 Receptor
keywords: Head and neck cancer; and immunotherapy; immune escape; immunosuppression