Use of camrelizumab in treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a rare pathology. It develops in the nasopharyngeal mucosa and is characterized by aggressive (recurrent and metastatic) progression. Due to complicated location, this disease is often diagnosed at late stages and requires systemic therapy. Due to the rareness of nasopharyngeal carcinoma, until recently there were no studies on modern drug therapy of this pathology with high evidence level.

Aim. To describe the capabilities and mechanism of action of camrelizumab in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The results of studies investigating the mechanism of action of camrelizumab were analyzed. The effectiveness of this drug in progression of nasopharyngeal cancer with previous chemotherapy and in combination with chemotherapy as the 1^st line treatment of recurrent and / or metastatic process was evaluated. Based on the phase II trial results, the use of camrelizumab in patients with disease progression during standard chemotherapy allows to achieve progression-free survival of 8.5 months. Data obtained in the phase III trial demonstrated clinical benefit of adding this drug to standard chemotherapy in the 1st line therapy of recurrent and / or metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma: median progressionfree survival significantly increased from 6.9 to 9.7 months.

Therefore, camrelizumab is a modern highly effective immunotherapeutic drug designed to treat patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.