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Bursting tumour cells with light releases their contents to the immune system; adding immunotherapy might turn a local treatment into a body-wide one.
The idea is to pair photoimmunotherapy with cetuximab sarotalocan and pembrolizumab in recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, turning a local light-activated treatment into an in situ vaccine. Rapid necrotic-type death releases tumour antigens and danger signals while leaving immune cells intact, EGFR targeting spares dendritic cells, and animal models show abscopal responses with checkpoint blockade. The hypothesis is that illuminated lesions plus pembrolizumab produce responses in non-illuminated lesions more often than pembrolizumab alone; a phase 2 has already been run in the US. The test is a randomised phase 2 in patients with an illuminable and a distant lesion, with distant-lesion response as endpoint; it addresses the cold-tumour bottleneck.
Patients with head and neck squamous cell cancer that has recurred or spread should be treated first with pembrolizumab: alone if their tumour is strongly PD-L1 positive and they can wait for a slower response, or with chemotherapy if the tumour is bulky or PD-L1 low. Cetuximab-based chemotherapy is no longer the default. Long-term follow-up shows a small but real group of patients alive at four to five years, which was almost unheard of before.
One of the most cited papers Europe PMC returns for Jean-Pascal Machiels at King Albert II Cancer Institute, Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, so it is a natural starting point for reading their work. The record was linked automatically from the author list and affiliation; read the abstract above and the paper itself before relying on any figure.
One of the most cited trial reports Europe PMC returns for Pembrolizumab in Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, so it is a natural first reading for anyone weighing the idea it is linked from. The record was linked automatically by title and abstract; read the abstract above and the paper itself before relying on any figure.
One idea page on OnCo cites this paper by its DOI; this record gives the citation a page of its own so a reader can follow it without leaving OnCo. Read the abstract above alongside the citing page listed under Related; the record was created automatically from the Europe PMC entry and its figures have not been checked by hand.
Shares Pembrolizumab for Platinum- and Cetuximab-Refractory Head and Neck Cancer: Results From a Single-Arm, Phase II Study, Pembrolizumab versus methotrexate, docetaxel, or cetuximab for recurrent or metastatic head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (KEYNOTE-040): a randomised, open-label, phase 3 study, KEYNOTE-412, KEYNOTE-689.
Shares KEYNOTE-048, KEYNOTE-048: pembrolizumab, alone or with chemotherapy, as first treatment for recurrent or metastatic head and neck cancer, Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, Pembrolizumab.
Shares Abscopal effect, Immunogenic cell death, Cold tumours and the immunosuppressive microenvironment, Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Shares Pembrolizumab versus methotrexate, docetaxel, or cetuximab for recurrent or metastatic head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (KEYNOTE-040): a randomised, open-label, phase 3 study, KEYNOTE-412, Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Shares Abscopal effect, Immunogenic cell death, Devices and physical therapies roadmap: heat and light → electric fields and focused sound → drug-releasing implants, Immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Shares Abscopal effect, Immunogenic cell death, Cold tumours and the immunosuppressive microenvironment, Immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Shares Abscopal effect, Immunogenic cell death, Cold tumours and the immunosuppressive microenvironment, Immune checkpoint inhibitors.
Shares Cetuximab sarotalocan, A Study of ASP-1929 Photoimmunotherapy in Combination With Pembrolizumab in First-line Treatment of Locoregional Recurrent Squamous Cell Carcinoma of , Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.