ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal and Hepatic Pharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1585048
Nimotuzumab plus chemotherapy and immunotherapy as first-line / neoadjuvant therapy for advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Provisionally accepted
- 1First Affiliated Hospital of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
- 2Fifth Medical Center of the PLA General Hospital, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 3People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 4Nankai University, Tianjin, China
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Background: Nimotuzumab has shown promising efficacy in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). However, the efficacy and safety of nimotuzumab plus chemotherapy and immunotherapy as first-line / neoadjuvant therapy for patients with advanced ESCC remain unclear. Methods: We performed a real world study of patients with advanced ESCC from Dec 2019 to Apr 2024. Patients were classified into resectable and unresectable group. Dosing regimen: nimotuzumab (400 mg, Q3W) plus chemotherapy (nab-paclitaxel: 240 mg/m 2 , paclitaxel liposome: 135-175 mg/m 2 , platinum: 200-400 mg/m 2 , Q3W) and immunotherapy (PD-1/PD-L1: 200-240 mg, Q3W). Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were primary endpoints, objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and safety were secondary endpoints.Results: Totally 55 patients were included, 15 in resectable group and 40 in unresectable group. The median follow-up was 36.70 months and 34.00 months, respectively. In resectable group, ORR was 100.0%, DCR was 100.0%, R0 resection rate was 100.00%, 1-year OS was 84.00%, 2-year OS was 74.67% with 34.46 months median OS, 1-year PFS was 84.00%, and 2-year PFS was 37.33% with 21.68 months median PFS. In unresectable group, ORR was 70.0%, DCR was 90.0%, 1-year OS was 76.70%, 2-year OS was 51.29% with 28.06 months median OS, 1-year PFS was 56.64%, and 2-year PFS was 31.15% with 14.95 months median PFS. 14 (25.5%) patients developed Grade 3-5 adverse events (AEs) not related to nimotuzumab, no serious AEs or deaths occurred.Conclusion: Our treatment combination for advanced ESCC showed a favorable survival profile, and safety was tolerable.
Keywords: nimotuzumab, Immunotherapy, Resectable, Unresectable, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Received: 28 Feb 2025; Accepted: 20 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Cui, Deng, Zhang, Jing, Ma, Pang and Han. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Quanli Han, First Affiliated Hospital of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
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