Neoadjuvant and Adjuvant Pembrolizumab in Locally Advanced Head and Neck Cancer
The addition of neoadjuvant and adjuvant pembrolizumab to standard care significantly improved event-free survival among participants with locally advanced HNSCC. Neoadjuvant pembrolizumab did not affect the likelihood of surgical completion. No new safety signals were identified. (Funded by Merck Sharp and Dohme, a subsidiary of Merck [Rahway, NJ]; KEYNOTE-689 ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT03765918.).
Authors
- Thorsten Fuereder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5356-6452)
- A L Klochikhin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2660-8578)
- Anupama Hooda-Nehra
- Makoto Tahara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9035-3106)
- Kimberly Benjamin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4101-2828)
- Rebecca D. Chernock (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6253-0478)
- Nicolas Mach (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8944-1088)
- William H. Westra
- Aron Popovtzer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4428-9232)
- Gustavo Vasconcelos Alves (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4985-5555)
- R. Bryan Bell
- Tomasz A. Rutkowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8818-6126)
- Nobuhiko Oridate (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6968-3028)
- Iane Pinto Figueiredo Lima
- Brett Hughes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1811-0537)
- Nancy Y. Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3044-9522)
- Marc Oliva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5352-8130)
- Burak Gümüşçü
- Simon Laban (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6732-7137)
- Christophe Le Tourneau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9772-4686)
- Ravindra Uppaluri
- Diogo Alpuim Costa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1377-3032)
- Kevin Joseph Harrington (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6014-348X)
- Irene Braña (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1068-9601)
- Robert I. Haddad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1413-0079)
- Tsutomu Ueda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9771-3880)
- Ursula C. Schroeder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8771-3403)
- Cristina P. Rodriguez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3568-2630)
- Douglas Adkins
- Yungan Tao
- Paul‐Stefan Mauz
- Yevhen Korobko
- Cole Manschot
Institutions
- Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US)
- University of Geneva (CH)
- Hebron University (PS)
- Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
- Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA (United States) (US)
- Barnes-Jewish Hospital (US)
- Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- University of Washington (US)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (AU)
- Hadassah Medical Center (IL)
- Providence Portland Medical Center (US)
- Institut Gustave Roussy (FR)
- Institut d'Investigació Biomédica de Bellvitge (ES)
- Fred Hutch Cancer Center (US)
- Mount Sinai Hospital (US)
- Jewish Hospital (US)
- University Hospital of Geneva (CH)
- Institut Català d'Oncologia (ES)
- Hospital Nossa Senhora da Conceição (BR)
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (US)
- Royal Marsden Hospital (GB)
- National Cancer Institute (UA)
- Hiroshima University Hospital (JP)
- University Children's Hospital Tübingen (DE)
- National Cancer Center Hospital East (JP)
- The Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology (PL)
- University Hospital Ulm (DE)
- Hospital do Desterro (PT)
- Vall d'Hebron Institute of Oncology (ES)
- Rutgers New Jersey Medical School (US)
- Hospital CUF Descobertas
- Medical University of Vienna (AT)
- Institut Curie (FR)
- Yokohama City University (JP)
- University of Lübeck (DE)
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- New England Journal of Medicine
- Published
- 2025-06-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmoa2415434
- Citations
- 177
- Primary Topic
- Head and Neck Cancer Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 327.09
Funders
- Merck Sharp and Dohme