Wei Chun, Lan Xiaojun, Qiu Maona, Cui Ran, Fu Qiuxia, Shinge Shafiu A Umar, Muluh Tobias Achu, Jiang Ou
Department of Oncology, The Second People's Hospital of Neijiang City, Neijiang, Sichuan 641000, P.R. China.
Department of Oncology, The First People's Hospital of Neijiang City, Neijiang, Sichuan 641000, P.R. China.
Oncol Lett. 2023 Jul 17;26(3):372. doi: 10.3892/ol.2023.13958. eCollection 2023 Sep.
Immunotherapy has become one of the most promising approaches in tumor therapy, and there are numerous associated clinical trials in China. As an immunosuppressive tumor, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) carries a high mutation burden, making immune checkpoint inhibitors promising candidates in this field due to their unique mechanism of action. The present review outlines a comprehensive multidisciplinary cancer treatment approach and elaborates on how combining immunochemotherapy and immunoradiotherapy guidelines could enhance clinical efficacy in patients with HNSCC. Furthermore, the present review explores the immunology of HNSCC, current immunotherapeutic strategies to enhance antitumor activity, ongoing clinical trials and the future direction of the current immune landscape in HNSCC. Advanced-stage HNSCC presents with a poor prognosis, low survival rates and minimal improvement in patient survival trends over time. Understanding the potential of immunotherapy and ways to combine it with surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy confers good prospects for the management of human papillomavirus (HPV)-positive HNSCC, as well as other HPV-positive malignancies. Understanding the immune system and its effect on HNSCC progression and metastasis will help to uncover novel biomarkers for the selection of patients and to enhance the efficacy of treatments. Further research on why current immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted drugs are only effective for some patients in the clinic is needed; therefore, further research is required to improve the overall survival of affected patients.
免疫疗法已成为肿瘤治疗中最有前景的方法之一，中国有众多相关临床试验。头颈部鳞状细胞癌（HNSCC）作为一种免疫抑制性肿瘤，具有较高的突变负荷，由于其独特的作用机制，使得免疫检查点抑制剂成为该领域有前景的候选药物。本综述概述了一种全面的多学科癌症治疗方法，并阐述了联合免疫化疗和免疫放疗指南如何提高HNSCC患者的临床疗效。此外，本综述还探讨了HNSCC的免疫学、目前增强抗肿瘤活性的免疫治疗策略、正在进行的临床试验以及HNSCC当前免疫格局的未来方向。晚期HNSCC预后较差，生存率低，患者生存趋势随时间的改善微乎其微。了解免疫疗法的潜力以及将其与手术、化疗和放疗相结合的方法，为人类乳头瘤病毒（HPV）阳性HNSCC以及其他HPV阳性恶性肿瘤的治疗带来了良好前景。了解免疫系统及其对HNSCC进展和转移的影响，将有助于发现用于选择患者的新型生物标志物，并提高治疗效果。目前需要进一步研究为何当前的免疫检查点抑制剂和靶向药物在临床上仅对部分患者有效；因此，需要进一步研究以提高受影响患者的总生存率。
