Nivolumab Combination Therapy for the Treatment of Unresectable Advanced or Metastatic Oesophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Oesophageal cancer (OC) is the seventh most common malignancy worldwide, and there are few effective treatment options for advanced OC. Fluoropyrimidine and platinum-based chemotherapy has been the standard first-line treatment for advanced oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) but the survival outcomes are poor. Therefore, there is a need to develop new, more effective drugs. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have emerged as a new standard treatment for several malignancies. Nivolumab, a human monoclonal immunoglobulin G4 antibody that inhibits programmed cell death protein-1, has been developed for the treatment of advanced OSCC. Nivolumab monotherapy demonstrated clinical efficacy and safety in patients with OSCC in the ATTRACTION-3 trial, and was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration as later-line treatment for patients with previously treated OSCC, regardless of programmed cell death protein-1 ligand expression status. Recently, the CheckMate 648 trial demonstrated the efficacy and safety of both an ICI in combination with chemotherapy, and a dual ICI combination, as first-line treatment for patients with advanced OSCC. This review discusses the current status of nivolumab combination therapy for patients with advanced OSCC, and future perspectives.