Therapeutic strategy for cancer immunotherapy in head and neck cancer

Cancer immunotherapy is one of the new prospective treatments for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). This strategy can effectively induce anti-tumor effects. However, despite surveillance by the host immune system, tumor cells can develop and acquire malignant phenotypes, for example, invasion into stromal tissue, and metastasis to lymph nodes and distant organs. Tumors with oncogenic mutations and cellular heterogeneity actively suppress the host immune system with assistance from the tumor micro-environment, including regulatory T cells, myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and type II macrophages, leading to immunoediting and immunosuppression of the anti-tumor response in vivo. Accumulating evidence, obtained through the use of advanced immunological technology, has elucidated the interaction between tumor cells and the host immune system. Greater understanding of this interaction has given rise to new therapeutic interventions, including cancer immunotherapy. In this review, we compile recent findings from experimental and clinical studies of cancer immunotherapy and discuss whether cancer immunotherapy has been determined to be beneficial in HNSCC patients. Cancer immunotherapy, such as cancer vaccine, dendritic cell immunotherapy, and blockade of immune checkpoints, also plays a crucial role in treatments that have contributed to improving overall survival in HNSCC patients. Moreover, due to the direct improvement of tumor-or tumor micro-environment mediated immunosuppression in HNSCC, cancer immunotherapy in combination with targeted therapy appears to be an effective and efficient therapeutic strategy.