Metastatic Head and Neck Cancer: Immunotherapy and Beyond

Head and neck cancer is estimated to result in 71,000 new cancer diagnoses and 16,000 deaths in 2024. Of these cases, approximately 14% will be metastatic. Recent changes in treatment paradigms have established immunotherapy as a cornerstone of treatment in the metastatic and recurrent setting. While immunotherapy has undoubtedly improved outcomes and can lead to long term durable responses in select patients, overall response rates remain suboptimal, with approximately 13%-20% of patients responding to immunotherapy in most studies. This review aims to provide an overview of the current treatment landscape of immunotherapies in head and neck malignancies. Additionally, we aim to discuss the future of immunotherapy, as well as novel targets and therapeutic platforms that may continue to change the treatment paradigm in this disease. Semin Radiat Oncol 35:259-270 (c) 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/)