The annual throat preservation rate is nearly 80%, and Shanghai research was included in the International Annual Conference: Immunotherapy for locally advanced head and neck tumors | Patients | Local
At the recent 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, research from Fudan University Affiliated Cancer Hospital was quite impressive: in the field of head and neck tumors, "induction chemotherapy combined with treprizumab can be used for laryngeal preservation treatment in patients with locally advanced laryngeal/hypopharyngeal cancer. The results of the Phase II clinical trial showed a one-year laryngeal preservation rate of 79.4%." The first author of this study, abbreviated as INSIGHT, is Professor Xiaomin Qu from Fudan University Affiliated Cancer Hospital, and the corresponding authors are Professor Yu Wang and Professor Xiayun He.
It is reported that laryngeal cancer and hypopharyngeal cancer are one of the most common head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in China, with the incidence rate accounting for about 20% of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Due to the insidious symptoms of the disease, the patient was diagnosed later and had a poor prognosis. Previously, surgical resection was used to prolong survival. With the development of multidisciplinary comprehensive treatment, diagnostic and treatment strategies emphasize the importance of organ function preservation. Previous studies have revealed that induction chemotherapy combined with radiation therapy can be used for the treatment of related patients, but scientists have been exploring better options.
Immunotherapy represented by PD-1 inhibitors has become the standard treatment for multiple types of tumors in recent years. In the field of head and neck tumors, previous clinical studies have shown that induction chemotherapy combined with PD-1 inhibitors has a good pathological response to locally advanced head and neck tumors, but its effect on laryngeal function preservation is not yet clear. Cancer hospitals are conducting INSIGHT research to explore therapeutic effects, in order to provide scientific references for clinical diagnosis and treatment.
In the Phase II study, all participants received induction chemotherapy combined with treprizumab for three cycles, followed by postoperative radiotherapy or concurrent radiotherapy and chemotherapy depending on the situation. A total of 27 patients were included in the study. Three months after radiotherapy, it was found that the objective response rate after combined induction therapy reached 85.2%, and 23 patients achieved laryngeal function preservation, with a three-month laryngeal preservation rate of 85.2%. In terms of survival benefits, with a median follow-up of 13.5 months, the 1-year overall survival rate, 1-year progression free survival rate, and 1-year laryngeal preservation rate were 83.1%, 79.5%, and 79.4%, respectively.
Qu Xiaomin stated that for patients with locally advanced laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer, INSIGHT research has revealed satisfactory short-term laryngeal preservation rates and survival benefits. From this, it can be seen that induction chemotherapy combined with PD-1 inhibitors may be a potential treatment strategy for related patients, with broad clinical application prospects. It is reported that INSIGHT research has been included in the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, representing the widespread recognition of research results by international peers. Experts have added that INSIGHT research is still being followed up continuously, and the team surrounding the immunotherapy combination plan will conduct more and larger sample size clinical studies to verify the clinical value of the strategy and benefit more patients as soon as possible.