Trial reportHead & neck2023
Neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio and peripheral blood biomarkers correlate with survival outcomes but not response among head and neck and salivary cancer treated with pembrolizumab and vorinostat.
Trial report in Head & neck, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02538510 (A Single Arm Phase I/II Study of MK-3475 Combined With Vorinostat for Recurrent Unresectable and/or Metastatic Squamous Cell Head and Neck Cancer and Recurrent Unresectable and/or Metastatic Salivary Gland Malignancies), which is not on this map. Cited by 10 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Single Arm Phase I/II Study of MK-3475 Combined With Vorinostat for Recurrent Unresectable and/or Metastatic Squamous Cell Head and Neck Cancer and Recurrent Unresectable and/or Metastatic Salivary Gland Malignancies
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Peripheral blood cell counts as predictors of immune-related adverse events in cancer patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Pooled it
- Neutrophil to Lymphocyte ratio as a predictor for immune-related adverse events in cancer patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Pooled it
- Prognostic Significance of Neutrophil-Lymphocyte Ratio in Salivary Gland Neoplasms: A Systematic Review.Journal of otolaryngology - head & neck surgery = Le Journal d'oto-rhino-laryngologie et de chirurgie cervico-facialePooled it
- Prognostic Factors Analysis in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Receiving PD-1/PD-L1 Inhibitors.Journal of hepatocellular carcinoma · 2026Article
- Low pre-treatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio predicted a better survival in recurrent/metastatic cervical cancer treated with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors.Discover oncology · 2025Article
- Pretreatment neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio as a prognostic factor in recurrent/metastatic head and neck cancer treated with pembrolizumab.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Review
- Inhibition of histone deacetylases attenuates tumor progression and improves immunotherapy in breast cancer.Frontiers in immunology · 2023Review
- Nomogram Prediction of Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy Plus Pembrolizumab in Locally Advanced Hypopharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.Journal of otolaryngology - head & neck surgery = Le Journal d'oto-rhino-laryngologie et de chirurgie cervico-facialeArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAssociations between peripheral blood biomarkers and oncologic outcomes were explored in recurrent/metastatic (R/M) head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HN) and salivary gland cancer (SGC) treated with pembrolizumab and vorinostat on a phase II trial (NCT02538510). EXPERIMENTAL
designTwenty-five HN and 25 SGCs were treated with pembrolizumab and vorinostat. Baseline peripheral blood was available in 21 HN and 20 SGCs and evaluated for associations with grade ≥3 adverse events (G ≥ 3AE) by CTCAEv4, objective response rate (ORR), overall survival (OS), and progression-free survival (PFS).
resultsHigher pretreatment neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and neutrophils, as well as lower pretreatment lymphocytes and T helper cells correlated with worse OS and PFS. Higher NLR further predicted increased rates of G ≥ 3AEs. No correlations with ORR were observed.
conclusionsIn a prospectively evaluated cohort of HN and SGCs treated with pembrolizumab and vorinostat, we observed novel associations between peripheral blood biomarkers and oncologic outcomes and toxicities.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.