Economopoulou Panagiota, Kotsantis Ioannis, Psyrri Amanda
2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Medical Oncology, Attikon University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
2nd Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Medical Oncology, Attikon University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
ESMO Open. 2017 Feb 13;1(6):e000122. doi: 10.1136/esmoopen-2016-000122. eCollection 2016.
The immune system plays a fundamental role in preventing cancer development by recognising and eliminating tumour cells. The recent success in the field of immunotherapy has confirmed the potential to exploit the immune response as a cancer treatment. Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a malignancy characterized by dismal prognosis and high mortality rate; low survival outcomes in combination with significant toxicity of current treatment strategies highlight the necessity for novel therapeutic modalities. HNSCC is a favourable disease for immunotherapy, as immune escape plays a key role in tumour initiation and progression. T-cell checkpoint inhibitors targeting programmed cell death protein-1 have emerged as novel immunotherapy agents showing remarkable efficacy in HNSCC. However, only a minority of patients derive benefit for single-agent immunotherapies. In this regard, combinatorial immunotherapy approaches represent an alternative strategy that might increase the number of patients who respond to immunotherapy. Focusing on HNSCC, this review will summarise novel combinations of immune checkpoint blockade with other immunotherapy treatment modalities.
免疫系统通过识别和清除肿瘤细胞在预防癌症发展中发挥着重要作用。免疫疗法领域最近的成功证实了利用免疫反应进行癌症治疗的潜力。头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）是一种预后不佳、死亡率高的恶性肿瘤；当前治疗策略的低生存结果与显著毒性相结合，凸显了新型治疗方式的必要性。HNSCC是免疫疗法的理想疾病，因为免疫逃逸在肿瘤的发生和发展中起关键作用。靶向程序性细胞死亡蛋白-1的T细胞检查点抑制剂已成为新型免疫治疗药物，在HNSCC中显示出显著疗效。然而，只有少数患者能从单药免疫疗法中获益。在这方面，联合免疫疗法是一种替代策略，可能会增加对免疫疗法有反应的患者数量。围绕HNSCC，本综述将总结免疫检查点阻断与其他免疫治疗方式的新型联合应用。
