The standard of care for locally advanced HNSCC has remained unchanged for decades.

However, 2 landmark studies presented at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting may signal a pivotal shift in the management of locally advanced, resectable HNSCC.

Key Points:

• The standard of care for locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has remained unchanged for decades, but 2 landmark studies presented at the 2025 ASCO Annual Meeting may signal a pivotal shift in the management of this disease.
• In the NIVOPOSTOP trial, the addition of nivolumab to postoperative cisplatin-based chemoradiation significantly improved disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with resected, high-risk, locally advanced HNSCC.
• Data from the KEYNOTE-689 trial show that perioperative pembrolizumab in patients with resectable, locally advanced HNSCC significantly improved median event-free survival (EFS) when added to standard-of-care surgery and chemoradiation.

The NIVOPOSTOP and KEYNOTE-689 trials represent a breakthrough in the management of resected, locally advanced HNSCC, marking the first phase 3 evidence to show meaningful improvements in DFS and EFS with the addition of immune checkpoint inhibitors to standard treatment.

Authors: Maria A. Velez, MD; Coral Olazagasti, MD; and Ana Velazquez, MD, FASCO

Full article: https://dailynews.ascopubs.org/do/new-era-immunotherapy-treatment-locally-advanced-head-and-neck-squamous-cell-carcinoma