| Title: |
Effectiveness and safety of cemiplimab in locally advanced and metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma |
| Authors: |
Roccuzzo, Gabriele; Bongiovanni, Eleonora; Actis-Giorgetto, Giovanni; Astrua, Chiara; Brizio, Matteo Giovanni; Cavaliere, Giovanni; Fava, Paolo; Ribero, Simone; Quaglino, Pietro |
| Source: |
Frontiers in Pharmacology ; volume 17 ; ISSN 1663-9812 |
| Publisher Information: |
Frontiers Media SA |
| Publication Year: |
2026 |
| Collection: |
Frontiers (Publisher - via CrossRef) |
| Description: |
Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is a common skin cancer with increasing incidence. The anti-PD-1 therapy cemiplimab has shown its antitumor activity in locally advanced (lacSCC) and metastatic cSCC (mcSCC). This retrospective study assessed the real-life effectiveness and safety of cemiplimab in 83 patients with lacSCC (n = 53) and mcSCC (n = 30). The objective response rate (ORR) was 49.4%, with a complete response (CR) in 15.7% and a partial response (PR) in 33.7%. The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 14 months (95% CI 9–55) and the median overall survival (OS) 19 months (95% CI 10–39). Half of patients (50.6%) experienced adverse events (AE) of any grade, with 8.4% discontinuing therapy due to the severe AEs. The subset of patients who experienced progression during therapy displayed younger age (p = 0.002), a higher disease stage at baseline (p = 0.003), and a nodal disease (p = 0.041). No differences in survival outcome emerged between patients with nodal vs. distant metastases, previous radiotherapy recipient vs. radiotherapy-naïve, and immunosuppressed vs. immunocompetent patients. Head&neck tumor site was associated with a longer OS after first progression (OS2, HR 0.29, 95% CI 0.09–0.89). This study supports the safe and effective use of cemiplimab in real life clinical practice yet highlights the need for further identification of new predictors of clinical response. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
unknown |
| DOI: |
10.3389/fphar.2026.1601650 |
| DOI: |
10.3389/fphar.2026.1601650/full |
| Availability: |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2026.1601650; https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2026.1601650/full |
| Rights: |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.429143D6 |
| Database: |
BASE |