Tislelizumab plus nimotuzumab is effective against recurrent or metastatic oral squamous cell carcinoma among patients with a performance status score ≥ 2: a retrospective study

Wen-Jie Wu; Pu-Gen An; Yi-Wei Zhong; Xiao Hu; Lin Wang; Jie Zhang

doi:10.3389/fonc.2023.1273798

Tislelizumab plus nimotuzumab is effective against recurrent or metastatic oral squamous cell carcinoma among patients with a performance status score ≥ 2: a retrospective study

Front Oncol. 2024 Jan 16:13:1273798. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1273798. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Wen-Jie Wu^#^{1

2

3}, Pu-Gen An^#^{1

2

3}, Yi-Wei Zhong^{1

2

3}, Xiao Hu^{1

2

3}, Lin Wang^{1

2

3}, Jie Zhang^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing, China.
² National Center of Stomatology & National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Beijing, China.
³ Central Laboratory, Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology, Beijing, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Objectives: The efficacy of treatments targeting recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma are unsatisfactory in practice for patients with a ECOG PS score ≥ 2. Thus, this study retrospectively evaluated the safety and efficacy of a programmed cell death 1 inhibitor (tislelizumab) combined with an epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor (nimotuzumab) in treating patients with a PS score ≥ 2 who suffer from recurrent or metastatic oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).

Materials and methods: Fifteen patients were treated with tislelizumab (200 mg IV Q3W) and nimotuzumab (200 mg IV Q3W). Programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in tumor biopsies was assessed with immunohistochemistry. Whole-exome sequencing was used to evaluate treatment efficacy based on PD-L1 expression and gene mutation.

Results: At a median follow-up of 9.6 months, median overall survival was 10.1 months, and median progression-free survival was 4.0 months. Overall response rate was 40%, with 6/15 patients achieving partial response. Eight patients exhibited nine adverse events, eight out of nine being grade 2 and the remaining being grade 3. Whole-exome sequencing showed that DYNC1I2, THSD7A, and FAT1 mutations were associated with patient prognosis.

Conclusion: Combination therapy involving tislelizumab plus nimotuzumab is a promising, low-toxicity treatment for recurrent or metastatic OSCC in patients with a PS score ≥ 2.

Keywords: immunotherapy; nimotuzumab; oral squamous cell carcinoma; performance status score; tislelizumab.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by Beijing Xisike Clinical Oncology Research Foundation (Y-MSDPU2022-0547) and Clinical Medicine Plus X - Young Scholars Project, Peking University, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (PKU2022LCXQ19).