Is Antigen-Specific Immunotherapy a New Frontier in HPV-Initiated Head and Neck Cancer?
Mené sur 88 patients atteints d'un carcinome épidermoïde de la tête et du cou HPV16+ récidivant ou métastatique (âge moyen : 64 ans), cet essai de phase II évalue l'efficacité, du point de vue du taux de réponse objective, et la toxicité d'un traitement combinant pembrolizumab et PDS0101 (une immunothérapie ciblant HPV16 dispensée par voie sous-cutanée)
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have transformed the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), with the programmed cell death 1 protein (PD-1) inhibitor pembrolizumab now a component of standard-of-care treatment for resectable and recurrent/metastatic (R/M) programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1)–expressing HNSCC. The majority of human papillomavirus (HPV)–initiated (HPV+) head and neck tumors persistently produce viral oncoproteins that would be expected to serve as nonself, tumor-specific antigens to elicit antitumor immune responses. Yet, although the longer natural history of HPV+ HNSCC is reflected in somewhat longer overall survival (OS) for patients with HPV, those with HPV+ cancers appear to derive proportionally similar or lesser benefit from ICI than those with HPV-negative (HPV−) HNSCC.
JAMA Oncology , éditorial, 2026