Trends in immunotherapy for oral squamous cell carcinoma

Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a prevalent malignant tumor of the head and neck, characterized by an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. The traditional treatment approach for OSCC typically involves a combination of surgical resection, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. Over the last few decades, the 5-year overall survival rate for OSCC has remained relatively stagnant at approximately 50-60%. Recently, the rapid progress in immunotherapy has revolutionized OSCC treatment, particularly through the use of immune checkpoint blockade therapies. Nivolumab and pembrolizumab have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the immunotherapy of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Additionally, other modalities such as costimulatory agonists, adoptive cellular therapy, cytokine immunotherapy, cancer vaccines, and photoimmunotherapy have shown promising feasibility and efficacy in relevant preclinical and clinical studies. Future directions for OSCC immunotherapy include precision medicine and research into the pathogenesis of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) and standardization of management methods. Furthermore, nano-immunotherapy is expected to be a significant trend in OSCC treatment. Clinical trial number Not applicable.