• L L Huang and Y K Shi.
• Department of Medical Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing Key Laboratory of Clinical Study on Anticancer Molecular Targeted Drugs, Beijing 100021, China.
• Zhonghua Zhong Liu Za Zhi. 2019 Sep 23; 41 (9): 641-647.

AbstractOver the past decades, although the clinical efficacy of advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has been moderately improved by the combination of cetuximab and chemotherapy, no remarkable treatment has emerged. The prognosis of HNSCC is still unsatisfied. With the deeper exploration of tumor immunological therapy, immunocheckpoint inhibitors such as monoclonal antibodies targeting on programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1)/ cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) have shown appreciable anti-tumor effect on cancers such as melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer. Some successful clinical studies on HNSCC have also been reported, which provide a new opportunity for the improvement of HNSCC prognosis.Here we systemically review the progress of checkpoint inhibitors and its combination therapy in HNSCC, some immunotherapy efficacy-related biomarkers are also discussed.

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