Application progress of immune checkpoint inhibitors in treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma / 肿瘤研究与临床

ABSTRACT

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are being used more and more in cancer therapy, which has brought new survival hopes to patients suffering from advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). Although various immunotherapies are ongoing in clinical trials, the most promising trial direction at present focuses on cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4), programmed death 1 (PD-1) and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) monoclonal antibodies. This paper reviews the tumor microenvironment of HNSCC, the role of ICI and the application in the immunotherapy of HNSCC.