The Evolving Paradigm of Immunotherapy in Head-and-neck Squamous Cell Cancers

Abstract

Immunotherapy (IT) plays a key role in head and neck cancer treatment. The response to IT depends on a multitude of factors that are not yet fully understood, just as the mechanisms of resistance or the role of tumor microenvironment have not been completely defined. For recurrent/metastatic head and neck cancers IT changed the treatment paradigm, both as monotherapy or in combination with chemotherapy, while it is still unclear how and where to place IT in the curative setting. The ineffectiveness of IT is due to multiple reasons, including primary and acquired resistances: several trials are ongoing to assess the efficacy of IT combined with new molecules in different settings, trying to exploit their synergistic role by improving effectiveness and overcoming resistances.