Role of Nivolumab and Challenges in the Treatment of Recurrent and Metastatic Head and Neck Cancer

Recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (R/M HNSCC) is an aggressive disease characterized by rapid progression and resistance to treatment and thus has a poor prognosis. The median survival time of R/M HNSCC patients is only 6 months to 12 months, and treatment goals now focus not only on prolonging survival but on improving the patient’s quality of life. Traditional treatments, including cisplatin-based chemotherapy and combination therapy with the monoclonal antibody cetuximab, have provided limited success. Patients with cancers resistant to platinum-based therapies used to have no standard treatment options, which severely restricted available treatment choices.