Summary
Project 1: Optimize anti-tumor immunity with neoadjuvant immunotherapy for oral cavity cancers Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), typically caused by carcinogen exposure, carries a poor prognosis. Roughly half of all patients with newly-diagnosed advanced stage OSCC will relapse in two years despite receiving maximal treatment consisting of disfiguring surgery and adjuvant radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy. Once disease recurs, few effective treatments exist. Treatment of unresectable locoregionally relapsed disease or distant metastasis with pembrolizumab (monoclonal ant
