Chemoimmunotherapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma—Summary and discussion of recent clinical trials

Abstract As a kind of carcinoma with increasing morbidity, poor prognosis, and high mortality, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is challenging for clinical management. Chemotherapy has been the standard treatment for ESCC over decades, while its clinical outcomes remain unsatisfying. And th...

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Main Authors: Zhen Zhang, Jiaqian Huang, Yuhong Xu, Huiyan Luo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2023-06-01
Series:MedComm – Future Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/mef2.56
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author Zhen Zhang
Jiaqian Huang
Yuhong Xu
Huiyan Luo
author_facet Zhen Zhang
Jiaqian Huang
Yuhong Xu
Huiyan Luo
author_sort Zhen Zhang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract As a kind of carcinoma with increasing morbidity, poor prognosis, and high mortality, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is challenging for clinical management. Chemotherapy has been the standard treatment for ESCC over decades, while its clinical outcomes remain unsatisfying. And the regimen that combine standard chemotherapy with targeted therapy also demonstrates little effect. However, the advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) proved to be a game changer in cancer treatment. Recent clinical trials had sprung up to evaluate the combined effect of ICI and chemotherapy regarding first‐line ESCC treatment. What's more, researchers attempt to explore the possibility to implement ICI monotherapy regarding second‐line ESCC treatment. In conclusion, most of the first‐line trails present inspiring achievement, while ICI monotherapy indicates little improvement for ESCC treatment. To point out the heterogenicity that could be the potential reasons biasing the pooled results, the differences of PD‐L1 immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays, geographic regions, chemotherapy regimens, and sex disparity among these trails are discussed respectively. In addition, the adverse events occurred during the trails are summarized, which confirm the safety of immunotherapy and chemoimmunotherapy. The article comprehensively reviews the representative explorations of using chemoimmunotherapy strategies in ESCC, as well as the deficiencies among them. Moreover, we highlight some feasible approaches. It will be beneficial for conducting more precise clinical trials on chemoimmunotherapy for ESCC in the future, including the use of more appropriate PD‐L1 IHC assays, careful consideration of the heterogeneity of the enrolled population and the optimal combination of chemotherapy and ICI.
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spelling doaj.art-4fc3aacb1ca447298b360cc77da96a8f2023-09-26T07:20:26ZengWileyMedComm – Future Medicine2769-64562023-06-0123n/an/a10.1002/mef2.56Chemoimmunotherapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma—Summary and discussion of recent clinical trialsZhen Zhang0Jiaqian Huang1Yuhong Xu2Huiyan Luo3Department of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat‐sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine Sun Yat‐sen University Guangzhou ChinaDepartment of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat‐sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine Sun Yat‐sen University Guangzhou ChinaDepartment of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat‐sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine Sun Yat‐sen University Guangzhou ChinaDepartment of Medical Oncology, Sun Yat‐sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine Sun Yat‐sen University Guangzhou ChinaAbstract As a kind of carcinoma with increasing morbidity, poor prognosis, and high mortality, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is challenging for clinical management. Chemotherapy has been the standard treatment for ESCC over decades, while its clinical outcomes remain unsatisfying. And the regimen that combine standard chemotherapy with targeted therapy also demonstrates little effect. However, the advent of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) proved to be a game changer in cancer treatment. Recent clinical trials had sprung up to evaluate the combined effect of ICI and chemotherapy regarding first‐line ESCC treatment. What's more, researchers attempt to explore the possibility to implement ICI monotherapy regarding second‐line ESCC treatment. In conclusion, most of the first‐line trails present inspiring achievement, while ICI monotherapy indicates little improvement for ESCC treatment. To point out the heterogenicity that could be the potential reasons biasing the pooled results, the differences of PD‐L1 immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays, geographic regions, chemotherapy regimens, and sex disparity among these trails are discussed respectively. In addition, the adverse events occurred during the trails are summarized, which confirm the safety of immunotherapy and chemoimmunotherapy. The article comprehensively reviews the representative explorations of using chemoimmunotherapy strategies in ESCC, as well as the deficiencies among them. Moreover, we highlight some feasible approaches. It will be beneficial for conducting more precise clinical trials on chemoimmunotherapy for ESCC in the future, including the use of more appropriate PD‐L1 IHC assays, careful consideration of the heterogeneity of the enrolled population and the optimal combination of chemotherapy and ICI.https://doi.org/10.1002/mef2.56chemoimmunotherapyesophageal squamous cell carcinomaimmunotherapyPD‐1PD‐L1
spellingShingle Zhen Zhang
Jiaqian Huang
Yuhong Xu
Huiyan Luo
Chemoimmunotherapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma—Summary and discussion of recent clinical trials
MedComm – Future Medicine
chemoimmunotherapy
esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
immunotherapy
PD‐1
PD‐L1
title Chemoimmunotherapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma—Summary and discussion of recent clinical trials
title_full Chemoimmunotherapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma—Summary and discussion of recent clinical trials
title_fullStr Chemoimmunotherapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma—Summary and discussion of recent clinical trials
title_full_unstemmed Chemoimmunotherapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma—Summary and discussion of recent clinical trials
title_short Chemoimmunotherapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma—Summary and discussion of recent clinical trials
title_sort chemoimmunotherapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma summary and discussion of recent clinical trials
topic chemoimmunotherapy
esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
immunotherapy
PD‐1
PD‐L1
url https://doi.org/10.1002/mef2.56
work_keys_str_mv AT zhenzhang chemoimmunotherapyforesophagealsquamouscellcarcinomasummaryanddiscussionofrecentclinicaltrials
AT jiaqianhuang chemoimmunotherapyforesophagealsquamouscellcarcinomasummaryanddiscussionofrecentclinicaltrials
AT yuhongxu chemoimmunotherapyforesophagealsquamouscellcarcinomasummaryanddiscussionofrecentclinicaltrials
AT huiyanluo chemoimmunotherapyforesophagealsquamouscellcarcinomasummaryanddiscussionofrecentclinicaltrials