Overview of studies included in the systematic review for HN primaries
| Author, year | Study type | Primary | Patients | SRT | Systemic therapy | Non-target response | Criteria |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aldakhil and Mathieu [40], 2022 | Case report | Meningioma | 70*, F | 12 Gy to the R petroclival portion of meningioma | None. Refused surgery and WB | CR of also the portion not included in the target, maintained at 52 months FUP | No systemic treatment, response outside RT field |
| Choi et al. [41], 2020 | Case series | HN | 67*, M | 45 Gy/5 fx to R submandibular and level III N (adj RT 2 yrs before) | Previous 6 cycles of phase II study of atezolizumab and cobimetinib, other 2 cycles after SBRT and 6 more cycles of consolidative atezolizumab | CR of a L adrenal gland metastasis after 2 cycles of atezolizumab and cobimetinib, progression free at 13 months FUP | Response after addition of RT > IT alone |
| 69*, M | 21 Gy/3 fx to axillar N (previous exclusive RT-CHT) | Previous CHT, pembrolizumab, cetuximab, panitumumab, concomitant pembrolizumab again | Metabolic CR on primary and bilateral N, absence of PD 20 months after combined SBRT-IT | ||||
| McBride et al. [42], 2021 | Prospective monocentric | HN | 0/32 (0%) | 27 Gy/3 fx SBRT | Nivolumab | None | Response after addition of RT > IT alone |
| Lin et al. [43], 2022 | Retrospective monocentre | HN | 0/3 (0%) | 25–36 Gy/5–6 fx to various target | Nivolumab, previous failure with CHT | None | Response outside RT field |
| Endo et al. [44], 2023 | Case report | HN | 72*, M | 48 Gy/4 fx to a paramediastinal mtxs | Neoadjuvant and adjuvant nivolumab (stoppage during RT) | PR after 2 months and CR after 7 months of a smaller lung mtx. No PD at 18-month FUP continuing IT | PD under IT |
| Ito et al. [45], 2024 | Prospective multicentric | HN | 4/10 (40%) (1 HN) | 25 Gy/5 fx to N | Nivolumab | Significantly better 1-year PFS rate group (P = 0.008) in the AE group | ≥ 30% decrease of ≥ 1 non-irradiated mtxs before the next line of therapy |
* Age at time of SRT. R: right; fx: fraction(s); RT: radiation treatment; yrs: years; CHT: chemotherapy; SBRT: stereotactic body radiotherapy; CR: complete response; FUP: follow-up; L: left; PD: progression disease; PR: partial response; mtx: metastasis; mtxs: metastases; AE: abscopal effect; IT: immunotherapy; SRT: stereotactic radiation techniques; HN: head and neck; F: female; M: male; N: node/nodal; PFS: progression free survival; adj: adjuvant; WB: whole brain