Yun-Gyoo Lee, Hyun Chang, Bhumsuk Keam, Sang Hoon Chun, Jihyun Park, Keon Uk Park, Seong Hoon Shin, Ho Jung An, Kyoung Eun Lee, Keun-Wook Lee, Hye Ryun Kim, Sung-Bae Kim, Myung-Ju Ahn, In Gyu Hwang
Cancer Res Treat. 2021;53(3):671-677. Published online December 7, 2020
Purpose This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC) after platinum-containing chemotherapy. We also identified clinical biomarkers which may be predictive of patient prognosis.
Materials and Methods We analyzed 125 patients with R/M HNSCC who received ICIs, retrospectively. Overall response rate (ORR) was the primary study outcome. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were the secondary study outcomes.
Results The patients received anti–programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) (n=73, 58%), anti–programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) (n=24, 19%), or a combination of anti–PD-1/PD-L1 and anti–cytotoxic T-lymphocyte antigen 4 (n=28, 22%). The median age was 57 years (range, 37 to 87). The location of the primary tumor was in the oral cavity in 28% of the cases, followed by oropharynx (27%), hypopharynx (20%), and larynx (12%). The ORR was 15% (19/125). With 12.3 months of median follow-up, median PFS was 2.7 months. Median OS was 10.8 months. A neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) > 4 was significantly associated with poor response to ICIs (odds ratio, 0.30; p=0.022). A sum of the target lesions > 40 mm (hazard ratio [HR], 1.53; p=0.046] and a NLR > 4 (HR, 1.75; p=0.009) were considered to be predictive markers of short PFS. A poor performance status (HR, 4.79; p < 0.001), a sum of target lesions > 40 mm (HR, 1.93; p=0.025), and an NLR > 4 (HR, 3.36; p < 0.001) were the significant predictors for poor survival.
Conclusion ICIs exhibited favorable antitumor activity in R/M HNSCC. Clinically, our findings can be used to recognize patients benefit from receiving ICI.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Impact of PIK3CA and cell cycle pathway genetic alterations on durvalumab efficacy in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: Post hoc analysis of TRIUMPH study Dong Hyun Kim, Seung Taek Lim, Hye Ryun Kim, Eun Joo Kang, Hee Kyung Ahn, Yun-Gyoo Lee, Der Sheng Sun, Jung Hye Kwon, Sang-Cheol Lee, Hyun Woo Lee, Min Kyoung Kim, Bhumsuk Keam, Keon-Uk Park, Seong-Hoon Shin, Hwan Jung Yun Oral Oncology.2024; 151: 106739. CrossRef
Characterization of macrophages in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma and development of MRG-based risk signature Lei Liu, Qiang Liu Scientific Reports.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Inflammatory markers as prognostic markers in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: a systematic review and meta-analysis Quan Wang, Xiangzhi Yin, Shengxia Wang, Haijun Lu Frontiers in Oncology.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Predictive value of early dynamic changes of NLR and PLR for the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitor in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma Dong Hyun Kim, Seo Yoon Jang, Bhumsuk Keam Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral Radiology.2024; 138(6): 763. CrossRef
Neutrophil‐to‐Lymphocyte Ratio and Pembrolizumab Outcomes in Oral Cavity Squamous Cell Carcinoma Angeline A. Truong, Rex H. Lee, Xin Wu, Alain P. Algazi, Hyunseok Kang, Ivan H. El‐Sayed, Jonathan R. George, Chase M. Heaton, William R. Ryan, Yena Jeon, Mi‐Ok Kim, Patrick K. Ha, Katherine C. Wai Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Diagnostic Predictors of Immunotherapy Response in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Piero Giuseppe Meliante, Federica Zoccali, Marco de Vincentiis, Massimo Ralli, Carla Petrella, Marco Fiore, Antonio Minni, Christian Barbato Diagnostics.2023; 13(5): 862. CrossRef
Patterns of recurrence in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma to inform personalized surveillance protocols Catherine T. Haring, Lulia A. Kana, Sarah M. Dermody, Collin Brummel, Jonathan B. McHugh, Keith A. Casper, Steven B. Chinn, Kelly M. Malloy, Michelle Mierzwa, Mark E. P. Prince, Andrew J. Rosko, Jennifer Shah, Chaz L. Stucken, Andrew G. Shuman, J. Chad Br Cancer.2023; 129(18): 2817. CrossRef
Immunotherapy with PD-1 Inhibitor Nivolumab in Recurrent/Metastatic Platinum Refractory Head and Neck Cancers—Early Experiences from Romania and Literature Review Camil Ciprian Mireștean, Mihai Cosmin Stan, Michael Schenker, Constantin Volovăț, Simona Ruxandra Volovăț, Dragoș Teodor Petru Iancu, Roxana Irina Iancu, Florinel Bădulescu Diagnostics.2023; 13(16): 2620. CrossRef
Integrating Cutting-Edge Methods to Oral Cancer Screening, Analysis, and Prognosis
Sagar Dholariya, Ragini D. Singh, Amit Sonagra, Dharamveer Yadav, Bhairavi N. Vajaria, Deepak Parchwani Critical Reviews™ in Oncogenesis.2023; 28(2): 11. CrossRef
Neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio and platelet–lymphocyte ratio as potential predictive markers of treatment response in cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: a systematic review and meta-analysis Tibera K. Rugambwa, Omar Abdihamid, Xiangyang Zhang, Yinghui Peng, Changjing Cai, Hong Shen, Shan Zeng, Wei Qiu Frontiers in Oncology.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Characterization of Age-Associated, Neutrophil-to-Lymphocyte Ratio (NLR) and Systemic Immune-Inflammatory Index (SII) as Biomarkers of Inflammation in Geriatric Patients with Cancer Treated with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: Impact on Efficacy and Surviva Khalil Choucair, Caroline Nebhan, Alessio Cortellini, Stijn Hentzen, Yinghong Wang, Cynthia Liu, Raffaele Giusti, Marco Filetti, Paolo Antonio Ascierto, Vito Vanella, Domenico Galetta, Annamaria Catino, Nour Al-Bzour, Azhar Saeed, Ludimila Cavalcante, Pam Cancers.2023; 15(20): 5052. CrossRef
A systematic review and meta-analysis of prognostic indicators in patients with head and neck malignancy treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors Dengxiong Kang, Siping Liu, Xin Yuan, Shenxiang Liu, Zhengrong Zhang, Zhilian He, Xudong Yin, Haiyan Mao Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology.2023; 149(20): 18215. CrossRef
Prognostic value of neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio during immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment in recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients Jun-Liang Li, Tsai-Ling Hsieh, Ming-Che Ou, Frank Cheau-Feng Lin, Stella Chin-Shaw Tsai Oral Oncology.2022; 126: 105729. CrossRef
Neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio as a prognostic marker for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: Meta‐analysis Yukinori Takenaka, Ryohei Oya, Norihiko Takemoto, Hidenori Inohara Head & Neck.2022; 44(5): 1237. CrossRef
Safety and Efficacy of Influenza Vaccination in Patients Receiving Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors. Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis Maria A. Lopez-Olivo, Valeria Valerio, Aliza R. Karpes Matusevich, Marianela Brizio, Michelle Kwok, Yimin Geng, Maria E. Suarez-Almazor, Ines Colmegna Vaccines.2022; 10(8): 1195. CrossRef
Identification of Immune-Related LncRNA Pairs for Predicting Prognosis and Immunotherapeutic Response in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Xueying Wang, Kui Cao, Erliang Guo, Xionghui Mao, Lunhua Guo, Cong Zhang, Junnan Guo, Gang Wang, Xianguang Yang, Ji Sun, Susheng Miao Frontiers in Immunology.2021;[Epub] CrossRef
Roles of Major RNA Adenosine Modifications in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Xing-xing Huo, Shu-jie Wang, Hang Song, Ming-de Li, Hua Yu, Meng Wang, Hong-xiao Gong, Xiao-ting Qiu, Yong-fu Zhu, Jian-ye Zhang Frontiers in Pharmacology.2021;[Epub] CrossRef