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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Head and Neck Cancer
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1486583
This article is part of the Research Topic Advanced Head and Neck Cancer: from Organ Preservation Strategies to extended resections and reconstruction View all 8 articles
Allergic History and Responses to Immunotherapy in Individuals With Recurrent or Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Provisionally accepted- Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China
Objective: To elucidate the association between allergy history and response to immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) in recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (RM/HNSCC).Methods: Patients receiving ICI treatment for RM/HNSCC were retrospectively enrolled and classified into two groups based on their previous allergy history. The primary outcome variable assessed was the response to ICI.Results: A total of 157 patients were included, of whom 27 reported a history of allergies. In multivariate analysis, patients with allergies exhibited an odds ratio of 2.78 [95% confidence interval: 1.54-5.99], significantly surpassing that of the non-allergic group. Other independent predictors of ICI benefit included current smoking status and the primary tumor site being in the oropharynx or hypopharynx. Neither progression-free survival nor overall survival was adversely affected by prior allergy history or smoking status or HPV status or PD-L1 expression.Conclusion: A prior history of allergies is associated with an enhanced response to immunotherapy in patients with RM/HNSCC.
Keywords: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, Immunotherapy, allergy, Smoking, clinical response
Received: 26 Aug 2024; Accepted: 10 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Wang, Ma, Zheng, Chu and Hu. 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:
Fei Liu, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, Henan Province, China
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