An exploratory study of nimotuzumab combined with toripalimab and chemotherapy for locally advanced tonsillar cancer.
Triplet neoadjuvant therapy produced pathologic complete response in 45% of tonsillar cancer patients.
An exploratory study of nimotuzumab combined with toripalimab and chemotherapy for locally advanced tonsillar cancer.
Neoadjuvant immunotherapy/targeted therapy combined with chemotherapy shows encouraging activity for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma).
Received triplet neoadjuvant therapy consisting of nimotuzumab, toripalimab, nab-paclitaxel, and carboplatin every 3 weeks for 2 cycles, followed by transoral radical tonsillectomy combined with radical cervical lymph node dissection.
nearly half had no detectable tumor left after therapy and surgery
Twenty patients achieved clinicopathologic downstaging after surgery.
Mean primary-tumor and dominant-node volume reductions were 76.18% and 72.59%, respectively.
Both pre- and postneoadjuvant margins were negative in all patients, yielding R0 resection in all cases.
Functional scores improved after neoadjuvant therapy, worsened transiently during radiotherapy, and generally recovered during follow-up.
Nimotuzumab plus toripalimab and chemotherapy produced high radiological and pathological response rates with reliable margin control in patients with locally advanced tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma.
Postneoadjuvant boundary assessment with intraoperative pathologic verification may support individualized resection planning, but routine resection of the primary lesion and cervical lymph node dissection remain necessary.
Longer follow-up and prospective validation are required to confirm these results.