A strategy for synergistic enhancement of immune circulation in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma by novel nucleic acid drug therapy and immunotherapy.

Abstract

Studies have shown that in the pathogenesis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, immune circulation obstruction caused by various factors including metabolic abnormalities, gene mutations, and matrix barrier, is a critical factor for the induction of tumor development and progression. Therefore, the immunotherapy strategy of killing head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells by an enhanced immune circulation mechanism has attracted much attention. In addition, the rapid development of new nucleic acid drug therapy, such as mRNA, oligonucleotide and small guide RNA (sgRNA), has taken immunotherapy of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (immune checkpoint inhibitors, tumor vaccines, cellular immunotherapy, cytokines and adjuvants, etc.) to a new level. The combination of nucleic acid therapy with immunotherapy developed for its therapeutic properties has brought a new direction for the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and the combination of the two has had considerable curative effect to patients with refractory/recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. In this review, we summarized the latest progress of nucleic acid therapy applied to conventional immunotherapy for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, discussed its mechanism of action and efficacy, and looked into the future development trend.