The Role of Immunotherapy in Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Dear Colleagues,

The field of oncology is rapidly evolving. For patients with recurrent/metastatic squamous cell carcinomas, the use of immunotherapy alone or in combination with different cytotoxic agents has shown improvements in both disease-free and overall survival.  Despite the promise and the clinical potential of immunotherapy, a large group of patients will progress within the first 2 years of treatment. Additionally, a segment of patients will experience rapid progression and poor outcome following treatment with immunotherapy. This highlights the need for reliable tools to identify potential candidates for treatment with immunotherapy.

In the realm of immunotherapy combinations, novel approaches are being tested such as programmed cell death 1 inhibitors and vaccines for HPV+ tumors, novel checkpoint inhibitor combinations, cellular therapies, and metronomic chemotherapy, among others. Last but not least, the use of novel therapies after progression on immune check point inhibitors is also of interest.

This Special Issue will highlight the current state of the art in the treatment of squamous cell carcinomas with immunotherapy and potential therapies available for treatment after progression on immunotherapy. This Issue will also highlight the role of predictive markers for the better selection of patients that will benefit from an initial treatment with immunotherapy. Lastly, this Issue will highlight the emerging role of novel immunotherapy targets and newer combination therapies for the management of this patient population.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Markus Heppt
Guest Editor

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