Safety and efficacy of neoadjuvant therapy with Tislelizumab plus chemotherapy for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: a single-arm, retrospective study

Background Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a very common type of head and neck cancer, and the 5-year overall survival (OS) rate is only 50%. Inhibitors targeting the Programmed death-1 (PD-1) pathway have gained widespread clinical adoption. However, the relationship between the infiltration characteristics of immune cells in the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) and the effect of immunotherapy on HNSCC remains to be explored. Methods Patients diagnosed with HNSCC who received Tislelizumab combined with chemotherapy were reviewed between February 2021 and March 30, 2024 in our single center. The laryngoscopy, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and pathologic response were evaluated to the efficacy of neoadjuvant therapy with Tislelizumab plus chemotherapy treatment. Treatment-related adverse events (TRAEs) were evaluated according to the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events version 5.0. Result Our analysis involved 42 patients who received Tislelizumab combined with chemotherapy. A total of 18 patients underwent surgical treatment following the completion of immunotherapy combined with chemotherapy. Among them, 6 patients achieved pCR (33%). The 1-year OS rate of the 42 patients enrolled in the study was 95.05%, and the 1-year PFS rate was 89.86%. There was a significant positive correlation between the lymphocyte density in HNSCC prior to the administration of neoadjuvant PD1-inhibitor therapy combined with chemotherapy and the immunotherapy efficacy. Compared with pretreatment, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) was significantly decreased and the lymphocyte density was significantly increased in HNSCC patients after immunotherapy. Conclusions The integration of neoadjuvant PD-1 inhibitor therapy with chemotherapy has been demonstrated to be a safe and effective strategy, can improve the tumor response rate and survival rate, and is a valuable treatment for patients with HNSCC. Furthermore, the study suggests that an elevated NLR within the HNSCC tumor microenvironment could potentially serve as a biomarker indicative of diminished immunotherapy efficacy.