Pathologic Response to Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy with or Without Chemotherapy in Resectable Head and Neck Cancer

Monday, October 19, 2026

11:48 AM - 11:54 AM PT

Location: West Exhibit Hall A, Learning Zone 3

Presenting Author(s)

Jonathan L. Katzman

Medical Student
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
New York, NY, United States
MB

Melissa M. Brandt, n/a

Medical Student
New York University Grossman School of Medicine
New York, New York, United States

Co-Author(s)

RW

Ruth A. White, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor
NYU Langone Health
New York, New York, United States

Senior Author(s)

BB

Brendan J. Belovarac, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor
NYU Langone Health
New York, New York, United States
Umamaheswar Duvvuri, MD, PhD

Mendik Foundation Professor of Otolaryngology and Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology
NYU Langone Health
New York, NY, United States

Disclosure(s):

Jonathan L. Katzman:

faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Umamaheswar Duvvuri, MD, PhD:

faculty for this accredited education activity has no relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Introduction: Neoadjuvant immunotherapy has emerged as a promising strategy for resectable head and neck cancer (HNC), though the optimal regimen remains unclear. We evaluated pathologic response in patients treated with neoadjuvant immunotherapy alone or in combination with chemotherapy.

Methods: We performed a retrospective review of patients with primary or recurrent, resectable HNC treated with neoadjuvant pembrolizumab with or without chemotherapy between October 2021 and January 2026 at a single academic center. Pathologic response was categorized as none/minimal ( < 50%), partial (50–90%), major (>90%), or complete (100%). Clinical-to-pathologic stage migration was assessed in primary tumors.

Results: Thirty-three patients were included (median age 64 years; 79% male), including 22 primary and 11 recurrent tumors. Twenty-three patients (69.7%) received concurrent chemotherapy, most commonly carboplatin and paclitaxel. Overall, 16 patients (48.5%) achieved at least partial pathologic response, including 14 (42.4%) with at least major response and 6 (18.2%) with complete response. Major response was achieved more frequently with combination chemoimmunotherapy than with immunotherapy alone (56.5 vs 10.0%, P=0.021), with all complete responses occurring in the chemoimmunotherapy group (26.1 vs 0.0%, P=0.145). Among primary tumors, clinical-to-pathologic downstaging occurred in 37.5% of patients on immunotherapy alone versus 57.1% of patients on chemoimmunotherapy.

Conclusions: In this retrospective cohort, neoadjuvant combined chemoimmunotherapy demonstrated encouraging pathologic response rates in resectable HNC, with over half of patients achieving major or complete response. These findings support prospective evaluation of multimodal neoadjuvant regimens and suggest a potential role for chemoimmunotherapy in enhancing tumor regression prior to surgery.