An update to "Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) clinical practice guideline on immunotherapy for the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma” is now available.
In accordance with the Institute of Medicine’s Standards for Developing Trustworthy Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs), SITC CPGs undergo periodic evaluation to assess if new evidence necessitates modifications to recommendations, treatment algorithms, or other guideline content. This is done through our “SITC Living Guidelines” rapid update protocols designed to ensure SITC’s CPGs are up-to-date with cutting-edge thinking and incorporate the leading expert guidance in cancer immunotherapy care – a vital service to treating clinicians and those along the whole cancer care continuum.
Rapid Update v1.1 Summary
The information below provides an overview of update v1.1 to the "Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) clinical practice guideline on immunotherapy for the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma" published in Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer (JITC).
- The FDA approved pembrolizumab for patients with recurrent or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma in June 2020.
- The FDA approved toripalimab in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine for first-line treatment of patients with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma, or as a monotherapy for treatment of adult patients with recurrent, unresectable, or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma with disease progression on or after platinum-containing chemotherapy in October 2023 .
- Practice-changing data have been reported from CheckMate 141 regarding nivolumab as a first-line treatment in recurrent or metastatic HNSCC after progressing on platinum therapy for locally advanced disease in the adjuvant or primary (ie, with radiation) setting.
- Practice-changing data have been reported from KEYNOTE B10 and the FRAIL-IMMUNE/GORTEC2018-03 trials, demonstrating efficacy of combining an anti-PD-(L)1 immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) with carboplatin + paclitaxel in frail patients with R/M HNSCC.
- The key clinical immunotherapy recommendations, as well as the first-line and second-line treatment algorithms for patients with R/M HNSCC have been updated to reflect additional treatment recommendations based on FDA approvals and practice-changing data.
How to View the Living Guideline Rapid Update
Through the use of an innovative technology, rapid updates are swiftly integrated into our existing published guidelines in a clear and concise manner. An overlay system highlights affected content and provides new text reflecting the updated Expert Panel guidance as well as important supporting information, data, and references, as applicable. These rapid updates show the progression of the changes by using a version numbering system that accompanies each new posted update.
- View Update v1.1 as an overlay to the original publication in JITC
For More Information