Immunotherapy for head and neck cancer: where are we now and where are we going?

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a relatively common cancer (1). While many patients with locally advanced disease are cured with some combination of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, others will develop recurrent/metastatic disease (R/M) and are considered incurable. Cytotoxic chemotherapy has limited efficacy and substantial toxicity in metastatic HNSCC, with a median overall survival of less than a year (2).