Abstract
Head and neck cancer is prognostically unfavourable group of diseases burdened by high mortality and morbidity following classic treatment regimens, such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Nevertheless, these tumors are highly infiltrated by immune cells, especially in case of HPV induced tumors, and constitute a perspective target for immune-based treatment.
Immunotherapy with checkpoint inhibitors has become one of the basic pillars of cancer therapy, that is applicable as a first line treatment in recurrent and metastatic head and neck cancer. However, only a small fraction of patients is responsive to the therapy.
In-depth analysis of immune cells in the tumor microenvironment could be the key element for improvement of current treatment regimens and effective stratification of patients that could benefit from immunotherapy and de-intensification of classic therapeutic protocols.