Metastasis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma rarely occurs in hepatic cancer and has a poor prognosis (median survival of 4 months). The efficacy of immunotherapy for these patients remains unknown. Herein, we present a patient with hypopharyngeal carcinoma metastasis to the liver with TERT and TP53 mutations together with a combined positive score of 70. The tumor invaded the abdominal wall, liver, inferior vena cava and retroperitoneal lymph nodes. The patient was treated with pembrolizumab combined with cisplatin and 5-FU for four cycles and has been maintained on pembrolizumab monotherapy until now. The patient achieved a near complete response of hepatic and subcutaneous metastases, and the tumor thrombus disappeared completely. The patient developed grade I rashes on the trunk, which were considered immune-related adverse events; thus, the patient presented a significant tumor response and good tolerance to the therapeutic strategy. On the basis of this observation, pembrolizumab-based therapeutic strategies may be an effective alternative for metastatic hypopharyngeal carcinoma and may prolong overall survival and progression-free survival, which should be confirmed by more patients in the future. Immune-related adverse events also need attention.

ObjectiveBecause of the high costs associated with early‐stage laryngeal carcinoma diagnosis and prognosis prediction, this study attempts to find valuable targets to establish a novel predictive model by focusing on the aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) genotype and other peripheral blood markers.Study DesignRetrospective study.SettingTertiary comprehensive hospital.MethodsFrom January 2011 to January 2021, 362 cases of laryngeal carcinoma were included and divided into 2 groups in this retrospective analysis. Information on medical history, alcohol, and tobacco consumption habits, ALDH2 genotypes, and other peripheral blood markers was collected. Endpoints of the current study included disease‐free survival and overall survival. A nomogram model for overall survival was established and evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves.ResultsA total of 236 patients were included in the training cohort, and the other 126 were included in the validation cohort. The median follow‐up of the patients was 9.6 years (interquartile range: 7.5‐12.5 years). Peripheral fibrinogen, hemoglobin, and ALDH2 genotypes were significantly associated with an increase in laryngeal carcinoma mortality rate on Kaplan‐Meier curves. The ROC curve showed that the effectiveness of overall survival prediction by the nomogram model was better than that of traditional clinical staging.ConclusionA prognostic nomogram of laryngeal carcinoma patients involving ALDH2 and peripheral blood markers and T and N stages was constructed and validated.