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Updated: Dec 26, 2025

Intramucosal Inoculation of Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells in Mice for Tumor Immune Profiling and Treatment Response Assessment
Published on: April 22, 2019
Real-world treatment patterns for patients with metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma treated with
Ranee Mehra1, Huan Huang2, Brian Seal3
1University of Maryland Greenebaum Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Background:
Real-world use of immuno-oncology (IO) therapies (nivolumab and pembrolizumab) in metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (mHNSCC) has not been well studied.
Methods:
mHNSCC patients treated with an IO therapy were identified from a large US claims database from 2016 to 2017. Treatment patterns before and after initiation of IO therapy (index date) were described.
Results:
Among 416 mHNSCC patients, 85% had ≥1 regimen prior to IO therapy. Ninety-seven percent of patients initiated IO as monotherapy and 3% initiated IO combined with another systemic treatment. One hundred seventeen (28%) patients had a subsequent regimen, usually chemotherapy (n = 58, 50%) or IO monotherapy (n = 27, 23%), of which 22 patients restarted the same IO therapy and 5 switched to another IO monotherapy.
Conclusion:
The majority of mHNSCC patients initiated IO as a monotherapy. Approximately half of patients with a subsequent regimen received chemotherapy and one-fourth received IO monotherapy.
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