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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Oncol.
Sec. Head and Neck Cancer
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2024.1489451
This article is part of the Research Topic Advances in Neoadjuvant Therapy for Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma View all 5 articles

Efficacy and safety of immunotherapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: A meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials

Provisionally accepted
Jiang Cailing Jiang Cailing shuqin wang shuqin wang *lijun zhu lijun zhu *
  • Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most common types of cancer worldwide and immune checkpoint inhibitors have shown favorable therapeutic effects in recurrent or metastatic or locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M /LA HNSCC). However, the effects of immunotherapy in HNSCC are still inconsistent because of complicating factors. This meta-analysis tries to provide a more precise assessment of the efficacy and safety of this integrated approach in HNSCC.We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) reporting guidelines. The outcomes were overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs). A total of 8 out of 2445 articles were analyzed, including 5067 HNSCC patients, including 823 and 4244 patients with LA HNSCC and R/M HNSCC.The combined data revealed that immunotherapy has an apparent difference in OS (HR 0.86 95% CI 0.77-0.98) compared with standard of care (Soc, like fluoropyrimidine, methotrexate, docetaxel, or cetuximab) but was equal with the other treatment in PFS (HR 1.08, 95% CI 0.85-1.37). Furthermore, the occurrence of grade 3 or higher adverse events related to the drugs was lower than systematic therapy (OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.17-0.73).The study has provided compelling evidence that immunotherapy is a significant benefit in OS for HNSCC patients, either R/M HNSCC or LA HNSCC, immunochemotherapy may benefit more for these patients, but double-agent immunotherapy showed no more benefit for R/M HNSCC patients.Systematic review registration: PROSPERO (york.ac.uk), identifier CRD42023471570.

    Keywords: Immunotherapy, Squamous cell carcinoma of head and neck (HNSCC), Overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), treat-related adverse events (TRAEs)

    Received: 01 Sep 2024; Accepted: 09 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Cailing, wang and zhu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    shuqin wang, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangzhou, 510317, Guangdong Province, China
    lijun zhu, Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, Guangzhou, 510317, Guangdong Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.