Neoadjuvant Pembrolizumab Combined with Chemotherapy for Locally Advanced Resectable Oral and Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinomas: A Single-center Retrospective Study

Objective: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy regimens have shown encouraging efficacy characterized by high objective response rate (ORR), pathologic complete response (pCR) rate, and major pathologic response (MPR) rate, alongside acceptable safety.This single-center retrospective study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of neoadjuvant pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced resectable oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (LA-OSCC/OPSCC). Materials and methods:A total of 50 patients were included.The patients received 2-4 cycles of neoadjuvant therapy with pembrolizumab, albumin-bound paclitaxel and cisplatin before surgery, followed by adjuvant radiotherapy or immunotherapy.Results: The median follow-up time was 31.7 months (95%CI, 29.4-34.0).The ORR was 85.4%, and the MPR rate was 65.8%.The 1-year event-free survival (EFS) rate was 88.8% (95%CI, 79.8%-98.8%).Patients with moderate programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression (combined positive score (CPS) 1 to