Palliative chemotherapy in head and neck cancer: balancing between beneficial and adverse effects

Rajendra, Akhil; Noronha, Vanita; Joshi, Amit; Patil, Vijay; Menon, Nandini; Prabhash, Kumar

doi:10.1080/14737140.2020.1708197

Cited by 27 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Indeed, systemic chemotherapy is burdened by a high rate of moderate-severe side effects. These impact negatively on patients’ QoL, worsening the psychological burden of a potentially incurable disease [ 8 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Quality of Life in Electrochemotherapy for Cutaneous and Mucosal Head and Neck Tumors

Riva

Salonia²,

Fassone

et al. 2021

JCM

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Background: Primary or recurrent head and neck cancer of skin or mucosa represents a challenge for clinicians and could be debilitating for the patient. Electrochemotherapy (ECT) emerged as a local ablative procedure for cutaneous and mucosal head and neck tumors. The aim of this observational study was the evaluation of quality of life (QoL) after ECT in patients without other surgical or radiation options as curative treatment. Materials and methods: The procedure was performed according the ESOPE (European Standard Operating procedure of Electrochemotherapy) protocol. Twenty-seven patients were evaluated before ECT (T0) and 1 (T1), 3 (T2), and 6 (T3) months after the procedure. QoL was assessed by means of the EORTC QLQ-C30 and EORTC QLQ-H&N35 questionnaires. Results: The objective tumor response rate was 48% (11% CR, 37% PR). Bleeding control was achieved in 7/7 patients who experienced bleeding prior to ECT. QoL improvement was observed after the procedure. In particular, global health status and social functioning were higher after ECT (p 0.026 and 0.043), while pain, pain-killers use and appetite loss decreased (p 0.045, 0.025 and 0.002). Conclusion: ECT represents a safe and effective treatment for skin and mucosal head and neck tumors without other curative options. It ensures a good pain and bleeding control without worsening of QoL.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Systemic chemotherapy and/or immunotherapy are the main treatments available for patients without surgical or radiation options. However, they are burdened by severe side effects that may be responsible for treatment breaks or suspension and QoL worsening [ 8 , 9 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quality of Life in Electrochemotherapy for Cutaneous and Mucosal Head and Neck Tumors

Riva

Salonia²,

Fassone

et al. 2021

JCM

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“…These broad mechanisms primarily focus on reducing cancer cell growth and proliferation or inducing programmed cell death/apoptosis, with a very narrow selective margin between neoplastic and normal cells. This almost blind-folded “carpet bombing” strategy results in severe adverse events [ 62 ], which are particularly incapacitating for patients treated with combined chemoradiotherapies. The result is a significant loss of quality of life (QoL) for the patients.…”

Section: Targeting Oncogenic Pathways In Hnsccmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shooting at Moving and Hidden Targets—Tumour Cell Plasticity and the Notch Signalling Pathway in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas

Kałafut

Czerwonka

Anameriç

et al. 2021

Cancers

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Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) is often aggressive, with poor response to current therapies in approximately 40–50% of the patients. Current therapies are restricted to operation and irradiation, often combined with a small number of standard-of-care chemotherapeutic drugs, preferentially for advanced tumour patients. Only very recently, newer targeted therapies have entered the clinics, including Cetuximab, which targets the EGF receptor (EGFR), and several immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting the immune receptor PD-1 and its ligand PD-L1. HNSCC tumour tissues are characterized by a high degree of intra-tumour heterogeneity (ITH), and non-genetic alterations that may affect both non-transformed cells, such as cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), and transformed carcinoma cells. This very high degree of heterogeneity likely contributes to acquired drug resistance, tumour dormancy, relapse, and distant or lymph node metastasis. ITH, in turn, is likely promoted by pronounced tumour cell plasticity, which manifests in highly dynamic and reversible phenomena such as of partial or hybrid forms of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and enhanced tumour stemness. Stemness and tumour cell plasticity are strongly promoted by Notch signalling, which remains poorly understood especially in HNSCC. Here, we aim to elucidate how Notch signal may act both as a tumour suppressor and proto-oncogenic, probably during different stages of tumour cell initiation and progression. Notch signalling also interacts with numerous other signalling pathways, that may also have a decisive impact on tumour cell plasticity, acquired radio/chemoresistance, and metastatic progression of HNSCC. We outline the current stage of research related to Notch signalling, and how this pathway may be intricately interconnected with other, druggable targets and signalling mechanisms in HNSCC.

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“…Various review articles have focused on different treatment options for HNCs such as surgery (14)(15)(16), RT (17)(18)(19)(20), CT (21)(22)(23)(24), and immunotherapies (25)(26)(27). This article will specifically focus on analyzing biotherapeutic antibodies that are currently approved or being examined in different clinical trials.…”

Section: Incidence Etiology and Treatmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biotherapeutic Antibodies for the Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer: Current Approaches and Future Considerations of Photothermal Therapies

Qaraghuli

2020

Front. Oncol.

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Head and neck cancer (HNC) is a heterogeneous disease that includes a variety of tumors originating in the hypopharynx, oropharynx, lip, oral cavity, nasopharynx, or larynx. HNC is the sixth most common malignancy worldwide and affects thousands of people in terms of incidence and mortality. Various factors can trigger the development of the disease such as smoking, alcohol consumption, and repetitive viral infections. HNC is currently treated by single or multimodality approaches, which are based on surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and biotherapeutic antibodies. The latter approach will be the focus of this article. There are currently three approved antibodies against HNCs (cetuximab, nivolumab, and pembrolizumab), and 48 antibodies under development. The majority of these antibodies are of humanized (23 antibodies) or human (19 antibodies) origins, and subclass IgG1 represents a total of 32 antibodies. In addition, three antibody drug conjugates (ADCs: telisotuzumab-vedotin, indatuximab-ravtansine, and W0101) and two bispecific antibodies (GBR 1372 and ABL001) have been under development. Despite the remarkable success of antibodies in treating different tumors, success was limited in HNCs. This limitation is attributed to efficacy, resistance, and the appearance of various side effects. However, the efficacy of these antibodies could be enhanced through conjugation to gold nanoparticles (GNPs). These conjugates combine the high specificity of antibodies with unique spectral properties of GNPs to generate a treatment approach known as photothermal therapy. This approach can provide promising outcomes due to the ability of GNPs to convert light into heat, which can specifically destroy cancer cells and treat HNC in an effective manner.

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Palliative chemotherapy in head and neck cancer: balancing between beneficial and adverse effects

Cited by 27 publications

References 62 publications

Quality of Life in Electrochemotherapy for Cutaneous and Mucosal Head and Neck Tumors

Quality of Life in Electrochemotherapy for Cutaneous and Mucosal Head and Neck Tumors

Shooting at Moving and Hidden Targets—Tumour Cell Plasticity and the Notch Signalling Pathway in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas

Biotherapeutic Antibodies for the Treatment of Head and Neck Cancer: Current Approaches and Future Considerations of Photothermal Therapies

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