Skip to main content

Adding Pembrolizumab to Standard Care Ups Event-Free Survival in Head, Neck Cancer

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on June 27, 2025.

via HealthDay

FRIDAY, June 27, 2025 -- For patients with locally advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), the addition of neoadjuvant and adjuvant pembrolizumab to standard care significantly improves event-free survival, according to a study published online June 18 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Ravindra Uppaluri, M.D., Ph.D., from Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and colleagues conducted a phase-3, open-label trial involving patients with locally advanced HNSCC who were randomly assigned to receive two cycles of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab and 15 cycles of adjuvant pembrolizumab in addition to standard care (pembrolizumab group) or standard care alone, comprising surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy with or without concomitant cisplatin (control group; 363 and 351 patients, respectively).

In each group, surgery was completed in approximately 88 percent of the participants. The median follow-up was 38.3 months at the first interim analysis. The researchers found that event-free survival at 36 months was 59.8 and 45.9 percent in the pembrolizumab and control groups (hazard ratio [HR] for progression, recurrence, or death, 0.66) among participants whose tumors expressed programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) with a combined positive score (CPS) of 10 or more; 58.2 and 44.9 percent, respectively (HR, 0.70) for participants whose tumors expressed PD-L1 with a CPS of 1 or more; and 57.6 and 46.4 percent, respectively (HR, 0.73) among all participants. Grade-3 or higher treatment-related adverse events occurred in 44.6 and 42.9 percent of participants in the pembrolizumab and control groups, respectively.

"Results for overall survival were not mature at the first prespecified interim analysis; additional follow-up is ongoing," the authors write.

The study was funded by Merck, the manufacturer of pembrolizumab.

Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)

Editorial (subscription or payment may be required)

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

Cancer Survivors More Likely to Take Rx for Mental Health Conditions

THURSDAY, Aug. 28, 2025 -- U.S. cancer survivors are significantly more likely to take medications for depression and anxiety compared with noncancer survivors, according to a...

GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Use Linked to Reduced Overall Risk for Cancer in Adults With Obesity

TUESDAY, Aug. 26, 2025 -- For adults with obesity, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) use is associated with a reduced overall risk for cancer, including lower...

Discordance Seen Between Care Goals, Treatment Intent in Advanced Cancer

MONDAY, Aug. 25, 2025 -- More patients with advanced cancer report that their treatment discordantly focuses on longevity over comfort than patients with other illnesses...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.