Synergy of electrochemotherapy and immunotherapy in the treatment of skin squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck

Abstract

Treatment of advanced-stage head and neck cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma is a challenge for maxillofacial surgeons, oncologists, and radiotherapists. These carcinomas respond with difficulty to systemic therapy and most of them relapse. Electrochemotherapy combines the use of cytotoxic drugs and electroporation, preserving organ function in combination with effective local control of the tumour. It can be used alone or in combination with other therapies, such as immunotherapy.

This study aims to verify whether electrochemotherapy performed with immunotherapy on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma can lead to an increase in the objective response rate. We report the case of a patient with head and neck skin squamous cell carcinoma treated with a combination of electrochemotherapy (by using both linear and finger probes) and immunotherapy (by using Cemiplimab, antibody blocking the programmed death receptor-1 – PD-1). This association has been shown to be effective both in controlling the progression of the disease, and in reducing the symptomatology of the patient (reduction of pain and bleeding), leading to an improvement in the quality of life.