Immunotherapy for nasal cavity and paranasal sinus cancer

Immunotherapy helps to strengthen or restore the immune system's ability to fight cancer. This works to kill cancer cells and stop cancer cells from growing and spreading.

Some people with nasal cavity and paranasal sinus cancer have immunotherapy. If you have immunotherapy, your healthcare team will use what they know about the cancer and about your health to plan the drugs, doses and schedules.

The immune system normally stops itself from attacking normal cells in the body by using specific proteins called checkpoints. Checkpoints slow down or stop an immune system response. Some cancer cells sometimes use these checkpoints to hide and avoid being attacked by the immune system. Immune checkpoint inhibitors work by blocking the checkpoint proteins so immune system cells (called T-cells) attack and kill the cancer cells.

Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) is an immune checkpoint inhibitor that targets the PD-1 checkpoint protein. It may be used to treat squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinus.

Side effects of immunotherapy will depend mainly on the type of drug or drug combination, the dose, how it's given and your overall health. Tell your healthcare team if you have side effects that you think might be from immunotherapy. The sooner you tell them of any problems, the sooner they can suggest ways to help you deal with them.

Pembrolizumab may cause these side effects:

• fatigue
• diarrhea
• skin changes including rash
• nausea and vomiting
• muscle and joint pain
• low blood cell counts