Effects of Tobacco Smoking on the Tumor Immune Microenvironment in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) who actively smoke during treatment have worse survival compared with never-smokers and former-smokers. We hypothesize the poor prognosis in tobacco smokers with HNSCC is, at least in part, due to ongoing suppression of immune response. We characterized the tumor immune microenvironment (TIM) of HNSCC in a retrospective cohort of 177 current, former, and never smokers.

Experimental design

Tumor specimens were subjected to analysis of CD3, CD8, FOXP3, PD-1, PD-L1, and pancytokeratin by multiplex immunofluorescence, whole-exome sequencing, and RNA sequencing. Immune markers were measured in tumor core, tumor margin, and stroma.

Results

Our data indicate that current smokers have significantly lower numb

SUBMITTER: de la Iglesia JV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7073297 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature