Real-world use of immuno-oncology (IO) therapies (nivolumab and pembrolizumab) in metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (mHNSCC) has not been well studied.

mHNSCC patients treated with an IO therapy were identified from a large US claims database from 2016 to 2017. Treatment patterns before and after initiation of IO therapy (index date) were described.

Among 416 mHNSCC patients, 85% had ≥1 regimen prior to IO therapy. Ninety-seven percent of patients initiated IO as monotherapy and 3% initiated IO combined with another systemic treatment. One hundred seventeen (28%) patients had a subsequent regimen, usually chemotherapy (n = 58, 50%) or IO monotherapy (n = 27, 23%), of which 22 patients restarted the same IO therapy and 5 switched to another IO monotherapy.

The majority of mHNSCC patients initiated IO as a monotherapy. Approximately half of patients with a subsequent regimen received chemotherapy and one-fourth received IO monotherapy.