The immune microenvironment of HPV-positive and HPV-negative oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma: a multiparametric quantitative and spatial analysis unveils a rationale to target treatment-naive tumors with immune checkpoint inhibitors.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) are approved for treatment of recurrent or metastatic oropharyngeal head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in the first- and second-line settings. However, only 15-20% of patients benefit from this treatment, a feature increasingly ascribed to the peculiar characteristics of the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME).

Methods

Immune-related gene expression profiling (GEP) and multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) including spatial proximity analysis, were used to characterize the TIME of 39 treatment-naïve oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas (OPSCC) and the corresponding lymph node metastases. GEP and mIF results were correlated with disease-free survival (DFS). HPV-positive tumors disclosed a stronger activation of several immune s

SUBMITTER: Tosi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9487049 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature