Clinical outcomes of immune checkpoint inhibitors for patients with recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer: real-world data in Korea

• Published in: BMC cancer Vol. 20; no. 1; p. 727
• Main Authors: Kim, Hyera, Kwon, Minsuk, Kim, Binnari, Jung, Hyun Ae, Sun, Jong-Mu, Lee, Se-Hoon, Park, Keunchil, Ahn, Myung-Ju
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 05.08.2020; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age; Aged; Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized - therapeutic use; Antineoplastic Agents, Immunological - therapeutic use; Cancer metastasis; Cancer patients; Cancer therapies; Cetuximab; Chemotherapy; Clinical outcomes; Clinical trials; Development and progression; Drug therapy; Female; Head & neck cancer; Head and neck cancer; Head and Neck Neoplasms - drug therapy; Head and Neck Neoplasms - mortality; Head and Neck Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Histology; Human papillomavirus; Humans; Hypopharynx; Immune checkpoint inhibitor; Immune checkpoint inhibitors; Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Immunotherapy; Larynx; Male; Medical prognosis; Metastases; Metastasis; Middle Aged; Monoclonal antibodies; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms - drug therapy; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms - mortality; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - drug therapy; Neoplasm Recurrence, Local - mortality; Nivolumab; Nivolumab - therapeutic use; Nose; Oral cavity; Oropharynx; Patient outcomes; Patients; PD-1 protein; Pembrolizumab; Progression-Free Survival; Radiation therapy; Radiotherapy; Republic of Korea; Retrospective Studies; Sinus; Squamous cell carcinoma; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck - drug therapy; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck - mortality; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck - radiotherapy; Surgery; Targeted cancer therapy; Treatment Outcome; Young Adult; Republic of Korea; Head and neck cancer; Pembrolizumab; Immune checkpoint inhibitor; Nivolumab
• ISSN: 1471-2407; 1471-2407
• DOI: 10.1186/s12885-020-07214-4

Anti-PD1 inhibitors have been approved for the treatment of recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer (HNC), as a result of Global Phase III trials. However, the clinical outcomes of immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients who are not eligible for clinical trials or have various medical conditions have not been fully elucidated. We retrospectively reviewed 46 patients with recurrent or metastatic HNC who received pembrolizumab or nivolumab between June 2016 and June 2019. Thirty-five patients had head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) affecting the oropharynx, oral cavity, hypopharynx, larynx, nasal cavity, or paranasal sinuses, and eleven patients had nasopharyngeal cancer (NPC). The median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 3.7 months and 6.8 months, respectively, for patients with HNSCC, and 4.3 months and 11.8 months, respectively, for patients with NPC. The objective response rate (ORR) in all patients was 21%. Of 30 patients with HNSCC, 5 patients achieved complete response and 2 achieved partial response (ORR 23%); 1 of 8 NPC patients achieved partial response (13%). Patients who previously underwent radiotherapy had better OS than those who did not (median OS, 7.6 months vs. 2.3 months, p = 0.006). OS was longer in patients treated with pembrolizumab than in those treated with nivolumab (median OS, 11.8 months vs. 6.8 months, p = 0.017). Consistent with previous reports, immune checkpoint inhibitors showed promising efficacy in patients with previously treated recurrent or metastatic HNC in a real-world setting.