Ultra‐high combined positive score and high serum albumin are favorable prognostic biomarkers for immune checkpoint inhibitors in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

BackgroundBiomarkers that predict response to immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) in recurrent metastatic squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (RMHNSCC) are not well known.MethodsWe prospectively measured the combined positive score (CPS) and administered ICI to patients with RMHNSCC.ResultsOf 51 patients, 23 patients had a CPS <20 and 12 patients (23.5%) had a CPS ≥90. CPS showed a negative correlation with serum albumin. Survival analysis showed a 2‐year survival rate of 24.1%. In multivariate analysis, CPS ≥90 (HR 0.3026, p = 0.02614) and albumin >3.5 (HR 0.3463, p = 0.01354) were the significant factors and plus chemotherapy (HR 0.4648, p = 0.07632) was not significant. Seven patients (14%) with CPS ≥90 and albumin >3.5 showed a 2‐year survival rate of 66. 7%.ConclusionsCPS ≥90 and albumin >3.5 cases are a subgroup of RMHNSCC that respond extremely well to ICI.

Serum Albumin as an Independent Predictor of Long-Term Survival in Patients with Recurrent and Metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Treated with Nivolumab

“…Notably, low pretreatment serum albumin levels in cancer patients are associated with poor survival [43][44][45], and low serum albumin levels are associated with poor response to various chemotherapies and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) [46,47]. More recently, serum albumin levels were demonstrated to predict the prognosis of ICI therapy [30,32].…”

“…Serum albumin level has been identified as a prognostic factor in many malignant diseases [27][28][29]. Specifically, pretreatment serum albumin level was recently found to be useful for predicting the response to ICI treatment in various carcinomas, including head and neck cancer [30][31][32]. However, whether pretreatment serum albumin levels are associated with long-term survival in patients with R/M HNSCC treated with nivolumab has not yet been examined.…”