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© 2022 Wakasaki et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Objectives

The benefit of sequential therapy after immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment for recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC) has been recently reported. Furthermore, there is a growing interest in the impact of cetuximab (Cmab)-containing salvage chemotherapy (SCT) and the therapeutic efficacy and adverse events (AEs) of Cmab administration prior to ICI administration.

Materials and methods

We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 52 patients with R/M HNSCC treated with SCT (weekly paclitaxel [PTX], n = 7, or weekly PTX and Cmab [PC], n = 45).

Results

The objective response rate (ORR) and a disease control rate (DCR) was 53.3% and 91.1% in the PC group and 42.9% and 57.1% in the PTX group, respectively. There was a significant difference in the DCR between the PC and PTX groups (p = 0.0143). The overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival were significantly better in the PC group than in the PTX group. On the other hand, the incidence of drug-induced interstitial pneumonia (DI-IP) in R/M HNSCC patients who received SCT was 21.2%. Patients in the PC group were divided according to whether they received Cmab (Group A) or did not receive Cmab (Group B) as palliative therapy prior to ICIs. Group B had a significantly better OS than Group A. Furthermore, our findings suggest that the incidence rate of DI-IP during SCT might be higher in Group B.

Conclusion

Although PC following ICIs shows dramatic efficacy, careful monitoring of AEs, including DI-IP, is recommended.

Details

Title
Effectiveness and safety of weekly paclitaxel and cetuximab as a salvage chemotherapy following immune checkpoint inhibitors for recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: A multicenter clinical study
Author
Wakasaki, Takahiro  VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Manako, Tomomi; Yasumatsu, Ryuji  VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Hara, Hirotaka; Toh, Satoshi; Masuda, Muneyuki; Yamauchi, Moriyasu  VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Kuratomi, Yuichiro; Nishimura, Emi; Takeuchi, Toranoshin; Matsuo, Mioko; Jiromaru, Rina; Hashimoto, Kazuki; Komune, Noritaka; Nakagawa, Takashi
First page
e0271907
Section
Research Article
Publication year
2022
Publication date
Jul 2022
Publisher
Public Library of Science
e-ISSN
19326203
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2695866151
Copyright
© 2022 Wakasaki et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.