Immune gene signatures in oropharyngeal cancers are associated with inverse prognosis by HPV-status
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ABSTRACT:
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
PROVIDER: GSE162738 | GEO | 2025/12/31
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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Project description:Background: Oropharynx squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is a subtype of HNSCC, arising from the base of tongue, lingual tonsil, tonsil, oropharynx, pharynx. The majority of OPSCC positive for HPV infection is associated with better prognosis, but a fraction of them, similarly to HPV-negative ones, is resistant to therapy and has poor prognosis. A deep molecular study of OPSCC is mandatory to identify either prognostic markers or targets for therapy, in particular in patients with worse prognosis. Methods: 14 HPV-positive and 15 HPV-negative Italian OPSCC (n=29) with complete clinical information and follow-up of more than 5 years were molecularly characterized by gene expression profiling and compared to three cohorts of OPSCC extracted from public HNSCC datasets. AKR1C3 emerged as robust marker overexpressed in HPV-negative OPSCC and in HPV-positive lesions with worse prognosis. Fadu and Cal-27 OPSCC cell lines were treated with AKR1C3 inhibitors, alone or in combination with Cisplatin. Results: Gene set enrichment analysis revealed that up-regulated genes in HPV-positive samples are involved in immune system, muscle related processes, response to stimuli, actin organization, tissue development and adhesion, while down-regulated genes participated in glutathione derivative biosynthetic and xenobiotic metabolic processes, hypoxia and oxidative stress. AKR1C3, coding for an enzyme involved in chemio-radioresistance, is in the top10 genes with higher upregulation in HPV-negative samples. Pre-treatment with a selective AKR1C3 inhibitor potentiated the effect of Cisplatin in cells with higher basal level of the enzyme. Conclusions: We identified a druggable target, AKR1C3, associated with survival in subgroups of OPSCC patients either positive or negative for HPV infection and to resistance to chemo-radiotherapy in HNSCC. Pretreatment of OPSCC cell lines expressing this enzyme with a selective AKR1C3 inhibitor is able to enhance Cisplatin efficacy.
2021-07-30 | GSE142583 | GEO
Project description:Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC), a distinct head and neck cancer subtype that develops in the oropharynx, is well known to be categorized into human papillomavirus induced (HPV+) and non-HPV induced (HPV-). While HPV+ OPSCC is reported to be clinically advantageous compared to HPV- OPSCC, the heterogeneous responses in HPV+ OPSCC during immunotherapy treatment have not been well characterized at the molecular level. In this study, we assess both tumor and immune cells of the OPSCC tumor microenvironment (TME) via single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and single-cell TCR sequencing (scTCR-seq). By dissecting the transcriptome of OPSCC tumor cells, we find that cancer cell transcriptional diversity may be a strong factor in negating HPV associated clinical benefits. By assessing immune cells, we observed molecular antiviral and anti-tumor characteristics of T cells that is associated with HPV infection, and key cell-cell interaction differences among resident memory T cells (Trm), follicular helper T cells, and B cells. Importantly, we identify a novel molecular state within the HPV+ OPSCC that is distinguished by the expression KLRB1 (CD161) in the Trm that inhibits anti-tumor activity, which may further explain the heterogeneous clinical benefits of HPV+OPSCC. Association of KLRB1 expression of Trm and immunotherapy outcome was confirmed via immunofluorescence analysis, suggesting CD161 as a novel therapeutic target to improve cancer treatment of HPV+ OPSCC.
2024-06-01 | GSE226620 | GEO
Project description:Tobacco use is an independent adverse prognostic feature in human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). Despite this, the biologic features associated with tobacco use have not been systematically investigated in this population. We sought to characterize the genomic and immunologic features of HPV(+) OPSCC associated with tobacco use and adverse oncologic outcomes. Whole exome sequencing of 47 primary HPV(+) OPSCC tumors was performed to investigate mutational differences associated with tobacco exposure. To characterize the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME), targeted mRNA hybridization was performed. Low expression of transcripts in a T cell-inflamed gene expression profile (TGEP) was associated with tobacco use at the time of diagnosis and lower overall and disease-free survival. Tobacco use was associated with an increased proportion of T>C substitutions and a lower proportion of mutational signatures typically observed in HPV(+) OPSCC tumors, but was not associated with increases in mutational burden or the rate of recurrent oncogenic mutations. Our work suggests that rather than increased mutational burden, tobacco’s primary and clinically relevant association in HPV(+) OPSCC is immunosuppression of the tumor immune microenvironment.
2022-04-02 | GSE199029 | GEO
Project description:The global rise of HPV(+) oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) has generated considerable interest underlying its etiology and management. Despite an overall decline in head and neck malignancies, the incidence in OPSCC has by contrast sharply risen, with HPV(+) subtypes now comprising 80% of all OPSCC.1,2 Relative to HPV(-) OPSCC, HPV(+) patients are more responsive to chemoradiation and harbor a 52% risk-of-death reduction.3 Despite this distinct outcome, treatment regimens remain the same for all OPSCC subtypes (smoking-driven and virus-driven), rather than an adaptive approach to what most consider distinct diseases. The short-term effects (e.g., mucositis, odynophagia) and long-term toxicities (e.g., xerostomia, dysphagia, ototoxicity) from treatment substantially affect quality of life, and rival the impact of the cancer itself. Recently published as well as ongoing trials are actively examining deintensification approaches2,4-9, with the goal of diminishing treatment sequelae for HPV(+) subtypes. While deintensification may decrease chemoradiation-related toxicities, it nonetheless may also undertreat a meaningful percentage of HPV(+) patients who may then recur. In examining national trials, 19% of HPV(+) patients had disease progression after therapy, with a two-year survival rate of 60%.10 Current methods to ascertain HPV status involve p16 staining. However, on comparison with gold standard E6/E7 expression by qPCR, p16 harbored a 15% false positivity rate11, suggesting limited utility as a sole biomarker for deintensification. Improved molecular stratification would greatly enhance the clinician’s ability to precisely tailor treatment while minimizing the risk of jeopardizing outcomes. One approach encompasses in-depth proteomic profiling of HPV(+) OPSCC to reveal distinct protein expression profiles and delineate clinically relevant upstream pathways. In turn, these proteomic differences may distinguish higher-risk disease (cases predisposed to recurrence that may benefit from treatment intensification) from lower-risk phenotypes (cases whose treatment response is sufficiently robust to warrant deintensification). Here, two HPV(+) OPSCC cohorts stratified by treatment response are compared via a hybrid data dependent acquisition/data independent acquisition (DDA/DIA) approach via mass spectrometry. We focused on detection of low-abundance proteins to highlight proteomic signatures that can be potentially exploited for treatment stratification.
2022-05-05 | PXD028618 | Pride
Project description:Nowadays, risk stratification for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is based on HPV status, tobacco smoking, and tumor stage. Although HPV positivity represents a strong prognostic factor for both reduced risk of relapse, and improved survival, there is a subset of HPV-positive OPSCC patients who still experience poor outcomes. Furthermore, HPV-negative OPSCC patients, who have an even higher risk of relapse within two years from the end of the treatment, are still lacking suitable prognostic biomarkers for clinical outcome. In this scenario, inclusion of new biomarkers that differentiate OPSCC patients with a diverse prognosis is urgently needed. Since genes encoding for epigenetic regulators have been frequently found mutated in several tumors, including OPSCC, it is expected that epigenetic changes may play a major role in OPSCC pathogenesis and response to therapy. Consistently, HPV oncoproteins have been also demonstrated to impact on epigenetic pattern by interacting with different epigenetic regulators, thus affecting the chromatin landscape of OPSCC HPV-positive cells. Along this line, we have recently demonstrated the methylation levels of the “Long interspersed nucleotide element-1” (LINE-1) repetitive elements, a widely accepted surrogate of overall genomic DNA methylation content, was different between HPV16-positive and -negative OPSCC patients. In particular, the lowest level of LINE-1 element methylation was observed in HPV16-negative OPSCC patients who relapsed within 24 months, thus indicating the overall level of genomic DNA methylation may have an impact on early OPSCC relapse risk. Despite these promising initial data, the influence of LINE1 methylation levels on OPSCC survival is not yet well defined. We retrospectively reviewed a cohort of 156 patients with stage III–IVB (AJCC TNM 7th Ed.) OPSCC. Forty patients were diagnosed and treated at Treviso Regional Hospital, and 116 at National Cancer Institute of Aviano and/or Pordenone Hospital. All patients were managed with curative intent with elective radiotherapy ± chemotherapy or surgery ± adjuvant (chemo)radiotherapy, in accordance with current clinical practice. Genomic DNA was extracted from OPSCC formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues. The quantification of HPV16 DNA was performed by real-time quantitative PCR by using specific primers for the amplification of a region spanning the E6 genes of the HPV16 genome, whereas the methylation status of LINE1 repetitive sequences was evaluated by real-time quantitative Methylation-Specific PCR. The impact of genome-wide methylation patterns on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was assessed using Kaplan-Meier analyses. Optimal cut-points for LINE-1 were search through a recursive algorithm which estimates the predictive value for PFS (Harrell's c-index) for each possible couple of LINE-1 values; optimal cut-points were defined as those which maximized Harrell's c-index. Multivariate hazard risk (HR) and corresponding confidence intervals (CI) were calculated according to Cox proportional hazard model adjusting for gender, age, TNM stage, and HPV status.The median follow up was 30 months (interquartile range: 17-72 months) Considering all cases, PFS and OS were respectively 64.6% and 71.8% at 2 years, and 49.5% and 53.7% at 5 years. HPV DNA prevalence was 28.8% (45/156). Compared to HPV-negative patients, HPV-positive ones had a better outcome in terms of PFS at 2 (81.0% vs. 58.2%) and 5 years (70.9% vs 41.6%; p=0.003), as well as in terms of OS (5-year OS: 74.1 vs. 45.9%, respectively; p=0.003). LINE-1 methylation level was significantly higher in HPV-positive OPSCC patients than in HPV-negative ones (median, 66.9% and 48.7% respectively; p<0.001). Three patterns of LINE-1 methylation status were indentified according to PFS: high ≥55%, medium 35-54%, low <35%. The same cut-points were identified from the analysis on OS. Analyzing all patients, PFS at 2 years was 75.9% in the high methylation group, 62.0% in the intermediate group, and 41.6% in the low methylation group (p≤0.001). Compared to LINE-1≥55%, multivariate HR were 1.66 (95% CI: 0.92-2.99) for LINE-1 35-54% and 2.84 (95% CI: 1.51-5.37) for LINE-1<35%. Moreover, OS at 2 and 5 years was significantly better in the high methylation group (p<0.001), with HRs of death similar to those for PFS. It is worth noting that the level of LINE-1 remained a prognostic factor for both PFS (p= 0.004) and of OS (p=0.011) when we restricted the analysis to HPV-negative patients. Among these patients, the multivariate HRs for LINE-1<35% were 2.87 (95% CI: 1.49-5.52) for PFS and 2.86 (1.43-5.74) for OS. In HPV-positive group, respect to patients with LINE-1 <55%, cases with a LINE-1≥55% have had better trend in terms of PFS and OS, but this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.112; p= 0.113), mainly due to small sample size. Between HPV-positive patients, only one had a methylation of LINE-1 < 35%. LINE-1 methylation has been identified as a molecular marker of prognosis for stage III-IV OPSCC patients, becoming a promising biomarker to be integrated in current prognostic factors (e.g., stage, HPV status, tobacco smoking) to refine the comprehensive clinical management of OPSCC. This is of particular clinical relevance for HPV-positive OPSCC patients, since this marker may help in indentify the subset of these patients with bad prognosis. However, further validation in a prospective study is needed for its application in daily clinical practice.
2023-02-21 | E-MTAB-12032 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Nowadays, risk stratification for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is based on HPV status, tobacco smoking, and tumor stage. Although HPV positivity represents a strong prognostic factor for both reduced risk of relapse, and improved survival, there is a subset of HPV-positive OPSCC patients who still experience poor outcomes. Furthermore, HPV-negative OPSCC patients, who have an even higher risk of relapse within two years from the end of the treatment, are still lacking suitable prognostic biomarkers for clinical outcome. In this scenario, inclusion of new biomarkers that differentiate OPSCC patients with a diverse prognosis is urgently needed. Since genes encoding for epigenetic regulators have been frequently found mutated in several tumors, including OPSCC, it is expected that epigenetic changes may play a major role in OPSCC pathogenesis and response to therapy. Consistently, HPV oncoproteins have been also demonstrated to impact on epigenetic pattern by interacting with different epigenetic regulators, thus affecting the chromatin landscape of OPSCC HPV-positive cells. Along this line, we have recently demonstrated the methylation levels of the “Long interspersed nucleotide element-1” (LINE-1) repetitive elements, a widely accepted surrogate of overall genomic DNA methylation content, was different between HPV16-positive and -negative OPSCC patients. In particular, the lowest level of LINE-1 element methylation was observed in HPV16-negative OPSCC patients who relapsed within 24 months, thus indicating the overall level of genomic DNA methylation may have an impact on early OPSCC relapse risk. Despite these promising initial data, the influence of LINE1 methylation levels on OPSCC survival is not yet well defined. We retrospectively reviewed a cohort of 156 patients with stage III–IVB (AJCC TNM 7th Ed.) OPSCC. Forty patients were diagnosed and treated at Treviso Regional Hospital, and 116 at National Cancer Institute of Aviano and/or Pordenone Hospital. All patients were managed with curative intent with elective radiotherapy ± chemotherapy or surgery ± adjuvant (chemo)radiotherapy, in accordance with current clinical practice. Genomic DNA was extracted from OPSCC formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues. The quantification of HPV16 DNA was performed by real-time quantitative PCR by using specific primers for the amplification of a region spanning the E6 genes of the HPV16 genome, whereas the methylation status of LINE1 repetitive sequences was evaluated by real-time quantitative Methylation-Specific PCR. The impact of genome-wide methylation patterns on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) was assessed using Kaplan-Meier analyses. Optimal cut-points for LINE-1 were search through a recursive algorithm which estimates the predictive value for PFS (Harrell's c-index) for each possible couple of LINE-1 values; optimal cut-points were defined as those which maximized Harrell's c-index. Multivariate hazard risk (HR) and corresponding confidence intervals (CI) were calculated according to Cox proportional hazard model adjusting for gender, age, TNM stage, and HPV status.The median follow up was 30 months (interquartile range: 17-72 months) Considering all cases, PFS and OS were respectively 64.6% and 71.8% at 2 years, and 49.5% and 53.7% at 5 years. HPV DNA prevalence was 28.8% (45/156). Compared to HPV-negative patients, HPV-positive ones had a better outcome in terms of PFS at 2 (81.0% vs. 58.2%) and 5 years (70.9% vs 41.6%; p=0.003), as well as in terms of OS (5-year OS: 74.1 vs. 45.9%, respectively; p=0.003). LINE-1 methylation level was significantly higher in HPV-positive OPSCC patients than in HPV-negative ones (median, 66.9% and 48.7% respectively; p<0.001). Three patterns of LINE-1 methylation status were indentified according to PFS: high ≥55%, medium 35-54%, low <35%. The same cut-points were identified from the analysis on OS. Analyzing all patients, PFS at 2 years was 75.9% in the high methylation group, 62.0% in the intermediate group, and 41.6% in the low methylation group (p≤0.001). Compared to LINE-1≥55%, multivariate HR were 1.66 (95% CI: 0.92-2.99) for LINE-1 35-54% and 2.84 (95% CI: 1.51-5.37) for LINE-1<35%. Moreover, OS at 2 and 5 years was significantly better in the high methylation group (p<0.001), with HRs of death similar to those for PFS. It is worth noting that the level of LINE-1 remained a prognostic factor for both PFS (p= 0.004) and of OS (p=0.011) when we restricted the analysis to HPV-negative patients. Among these patients, the multivariate HRs for LINE-1<35% were 2.87 (95% CI: 1.49-5.52) for PFS and 2.86 (1.43-5.74) for OS. In HPV-positive group, respect to patients with LINE-1 <55%, cases with a LINE-1≥55% have had better trend in terms of PFS and OS, but this difference was not statistically significant (p=0.112; p= 0.113), mainly due to small sample size. Between HPV-positive patients, only one had a methylation of LINE-1 < 35%. LINE-1 methylation has been identified as a molecular marker of prognosis for stage III-IV OPSCC patients, becoming a promising biomarker to be integrated in current prognostic factors (e.g., stage, HPV status, tobacco smoking) to refine the comprehensive clinical management of OPSCC. This is of particular clinical relevance for HPV-positive OPSCC patients, since this marker may help in indentify the subset of these patients with bad prognosis. However, further validation in a prospective study is needed for its application in daily clinical practice.
2022-07-14 | E-MTAB-11152 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Immune gene signatures in oropharyngeal cancers are associated with inverse prognosis by HPV-status
| PRJNA682821 | ENA
Project description:Background: Robust prognostic stratification of patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) is important for developing individualized treatment plans. This study was conducted to develop and validate a clinically feasible prognostic classifier based on transcriptome-wide gene expression profiles. Methods: Tumor tissues were collected from 208 OPSCC patients treated at Washington University in St. Louis and 115 OPSCC patients treated at Vanderbilt University, used for model training and validation, respectively. OPSCC patients (n = 70) from the TCGA cohort were also included for independent validation. Based on RNA-seq profiling data, Cox proportional hazards regression analysis was performed to identify genes associated with disease outcomes. Then, Lasso-penalized multivariate survival models were constructed to identify biomarker genes for developing a prognostic gene signature. Findings: A 60-gene signature was identified by RNA-seq profiling analysis. Computed risk score of the gene signature was significantly predictive of 5-year overall survival of the training cohort (Hazard ratio (HR) 28.32, P = 4.3E-41). Subgroup analysis stratified by HPV status revealed that the signature was prognostic in HPV-positive OPSCC patients (HR 30.55, P = 7.0E-37) and was independent of clinical features. Importantly, the gene signature was validated in two independent patient cohorts, including the TCGA cohort (HR 3.94, P = 0.0018) and the Vanderbilt cohort (HR 8.50, P = 5.7E-09) for overall survival. Conclusions: The prognostic gene signature is a robust tool for risk stratification of OPSCC patients. The signature remains prognostic among HPV-positive OPSCC patients.
2021-04-13 | GSE171898 | GEO
Project description:This is the proteomics part of the above project. Purpose: No blood-based biomarkers to detect OPSCC early before symptoms develop or before clinically visible. Diagnosis is solely based on histology of a visible tumour. Most OPSCC patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, which leads to significant morbidity and poor survival. If high-risk patients were identified with blood-based biomarkers before clear clinical manifestations, tumours could be detected and treated at an earlier stage. Causes of OPSCC include smoking, alcohol misuse, and human papillomavirus (HPV). Tumours are separated according to WHO recommendations into HPV+ OPSCC and HPV- OPSCC using the proxy histological marker p16. We additionally separated our patients into these groups to determine whether the serum glycopeptides would differ between HPV+ and HPV- tumours, as these are distinct clinical entities. Patients and Methods: Pre-treatment sera from 74 patients with OPSCC (including 26 p16- tumours and 48 p16+ tumours) and 12 controls were used, collected between the years 2012 and 2015 at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. Samples were grouped as follows: early stage p16+ OPSCC (stage I only), early stage p16- OPSCC (stage I-II), p16+ (any stage), p16- (any stage), controls. In-parallel quantitative bulk serum proteomics and serum glycopeptidomics were performed. Results: We identified 78 bulk proteins in the serum, of which 33 significantly differed between early-stage p16- OPSCC and controls, 22 between early-stage p16+ OPSCC and controls, 1 between early-stage p16+ and early-stage p16- OPSCCs, and 30 between all p16+ and p16- OPSCCs. We identified glycopeptides from proteins including but not limited to alpha-1-antitrypsin, haptoglobin, and Immunoglobulin heavy constant alpha 1, and compared these with the protein expression levels in each comparison. Conclusions: We have identified novel serum glycopeptide biomarkers detect early-stage OPSCCs, to be evaluated further as a diagnostic panel to detect preclinical OPSCC in at-risk patients.
2024-01-26 | PXD016727 | Pride
Project description:This is the glycopeptide part of the above project. Purpose: No blood-based biomarkers to detect OPSCC early before symptoms develop or before clinically visible. Diagnosis is solely based on histology of a visible tumour. Most OPSCC patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, which leads to significant morbidity and poor survival. If high-risk patients were identified with blood-based biomarkers before clear clinical manifestations, tumours could be detected and treated at an earlier stage. Causes of OPSCC include smoking, alcohol misuse, and human papillomavirus (HPV). Tumours are separated according to WHO recommendations into HPV+ OPSCC and HPV- OPSCC using the proxy histological marker p16. We additionally separated our patients into these groups to determine whether the serum glycopeptides would differ between HPV+ and HPV- tumours, as these are distinct clinical entities. Patients and Methods: Pre-treatment sera from 74 patients with OPSCC (including 26 p16- tumours and 48 p16+ tumours) and 12 controls were used, collected between the years 2012 and 2015 at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. Samples were grouped as follows: early stage p16+ OPSCC (stage I only), early stage p16- OPSCC (stage I-II), p16+ (any stage), p16- (any stage), controls. In-parallel quantitative bulk serum proteomics and serum glycopeptidomics were performed. Results: We identified 78 bulk proteins in the serum, of which 33 significantly differed between early-stage p16- OPSCC and controls, 22 between early-stage p16+ OPSCC and controls, 1 between early-stage p16+ and early-stage p16- OPSCCs, and 30 between all p16+ and p16- OPSCCs. We identified glycopeptides from proteins including but not limited to alpha-1-antitrypsin, haptoglobin, and Immunoglobulin heavy constant alpha 1, and compared these with the protein expression levels in each comparison. Conclusions: We have identified novel serum glycopeptide biomarkers detect early-stage OPSCCs, to be evaluated further as a diagnostic panel to detect preclinical OPSCC in at-risk patients.
2024-01-26 | PXD016709 | Pride