Is anti-PD-1 immunotherapy a means for post-irradiation tumor clearance in head and neck cancer?

Koukourakis, Ioannis M; Papadimitriou, Marios; Desse, Dimitra; Zygogianni, Anna; Papadimitriou, Christos; Koukourakis, Michael I.

doi:10.1007/s12032-022-01778-w

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 21 publications

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“…assessment of response of SCHNC and other carcinomas after CRT is usually performed two months after the end of therapy, the use of cfDNA levels can be important to identify high-risk patients immediately after treatment. Such patients could be candidates for immediate consolidation chemotherapy or, even better, be recruited in immunotherapy protocols to enhance the eradication of the remnant disease by taking advantage of the postulated radio-vaccination effect of otherwise ineffective CRT (23,24).…”

Section: Kaplan-meier Disease Specific Overall Survival (Os) Locoregi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Circulating Plasma Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) as a Predictive Biomarker for Radiotherapy: Results from a Prospective Trial in Head and Neck Cancer

KOUKOURAKIS,

XANTHOPOULOU,

KOUKOURAKIS

et al. 2023

CDP

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Background/Aim: The plasma levels of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in cancer patients increase due to rapid cancer cell proliferation and death. Therefore, cfDNA can be used to study specific tumor-DNA features. In addition, the non-specific cfDNA concentration may be an important biomarker of cancer prognosis. Patients and Methods: We prospectively examined the predictive role of cfDNA levels and the kinetics in the outcome of chemo-radiotherapy (CRT) in a cohort of 47 patients with locally advanced squamous cell head-neck cancer (SCHNC) treated with definitive chemo-radiotherapy. Results: Increased cfDNA levels after therapy completion (after/before treatment ratio; A/B-ratio >1) were found in 26/47 patients (55.3%). Locally advanced T4-stage was significantly associated with higher cfDNA levels after CRT (3.3 ng/μl in T4-stage vs. 1.3 ng/μl in T1-3 stages, p=0.007). Patients who responded to CRT (partial/complete response) had significantly lower cfDNA levels before therapy (mean values 1.2 ng/μl vs. 2.7 ng/μl, p=0.03). A significantly worse locoregional progression-free survival in patients with an A/B-ratio >1 was documented (p=0.01; hazard ratio 3.5, 95%CI=1.2-9.7). This was also confirmed in multivariate analysis, where the A/B-ratio was an independent predictive variable of locoregional relapse (p=0.03, hazard ratio 3.9, 95%CI=1.2-13). Conclusion: High post-CRT cfDNA levels could be an early biomarker for the immediate recruitment of patients with SCHNC in consolidation chemo-immunotherapy protocols.

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Section: Kaplan-meier Disease Specific Overall Survival (Os) Locoregi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Circulating Plasma Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) as a Predictive Biomarker for Radiotherapy: Results from a Prospective Trial in Head and Neck Cancer

KOUKOURAKIS,

XANTHOPOULOU,

KOUKOURAKIS

et al. 2023

CDP

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Is anti-PD-1 immunotherapy a means for post-irradiation tumor clearance in head and neck cancer?

Cited by 1 publication

References 21 publications

Circulating Plasma Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) as a Predictive Biomarker for Radiotherapy: Results from a Prospective Trial in Head and Neck Cancer

Circulating Plasma Cell-free DNA (cfDNA) as a Predictive Biomarker for Radiotherapy: Results from a Prospective Trial in Head and Neck Cancer

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