Nikhil Khushalani, MD, on Immunotherapy in Advanced Unresectable CSCC
Thematic Newsreels
Nikhil Khushalani, MD, Vice Chair for the Department of Cutaneous Oncology at Moffitt Cancer Center, offers his thoughts on the role of immunotherapy in the treatment of advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). Dr. Khushalani discusses the three currently approved immunotherapeutic agents for this disease—cemiplimab-rwlc, pembrolizumab, and cosibelimab-ipdl—and their confirmatory trials as well as adverse event profiles. He also talks about choosing optimal treatment strategies for patients, and studies currently exploring monotherapy vs combination therapy regimens.
References
1. Migden MR, Rischin D, Schmults CD, et al: PD-1 blockade with cemiplimab in advanced cutaneous squamous-cell carcinoma. N Eng J Med 379:341-351, 2018.
2. Hughes BGM, Guminski A, Bowyer S, et al: A phase 2 open-label study of cemiplimab in patients with advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (EMPOWER-CSCC-1): Final long-term analysis of groups 1, 2, and 3, and primary analysis of fixed-dose treatment group 6. J Am Acad Dermatol 1:68-77, 2025.
3. Grob JJ, Gonzalez R, Bassett-Seguin N, et al: Pembrolizumab monotherapy for recurrent or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma: A single-arm phase II trial (KEYNOTE-629). J Clin Oncol 25:2916-2925, 2020.
4. Maubec E, Boubaya M, Petrow P, et al: Phase II study of pembrolizumab as first-line, single-drug therapy for patients with unresectable cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas. J Clin Oncol 26:3051-3061, 2020.
5. Clingan P, Ladwa R, Brungs D, et al: Efficacy and safety of cosibelimab, an anti-PD-L1 antibody, in metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. J Immunother Cancer 10:e007637, 2023.
6. Zandberg DP, Allred JB, Rosenberg AJ, et al: Phase II (Alliance A091802) randomized trial of avelumab plus cetuximab versus avelumab alone in advanced cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. J Clin Oncol 43:2398-2408, 2025.
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