Project description:Background: The incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) associated oropharyngeal carcinomas has increased rapidly over the last thirty years. These tumours behave as a distinct biological entity when compared to classical smoking- and alcohol-related disease. To gain more information regarding the pathway through pre-malignancy in HPV positive/HPV negative oropharyngeal carcinoma (OSCC), we investigated genomewide expression profiles in histopathologically confirmed tumour samples with site-matched normal epithelial controls. Methods: Twenty-four patients with primary oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (4 with stage III and 20 with stage IV disease) were included in this prospective clinical trial (UKCRN11945). The tumour tissues were each assessed by a histopathologist with HPV status and typing by p16INK4A, consensus PGMY PCR, type-specific HPV16 DNA & RNA PCR and DNA sequencing. Fresh tissue samples were subjected to whole transcriptome analysis using the Illumina Bead Array (~47,000 transcripts) and the results validated with quantitative Real Time-PCR (qRT-PCR). In a separate cohort of twelve OSCC patients, laser capture micro-dissection of formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue allowed RNA extraction from regions of in situ malignant change (with matched normal and invasive SCC samples). Results: The majority of OSCC patients (28/36) displayed evidence of high risk HPV positivity. Predictable fold changes of RNA expression in HPV-associated disease included multiple transcripts within the p53 oncogenic pathway (e.g. CDKN2A/CCND1). Other candidate transcripts found to have altered levels of expression in this study have not previously been established in HPV16 associated oropharyngeal cancer. These were involved in cell differentiation, proliferation and invasion and demonstrated considerable overlap with expression analysis data in other oncogenic pathways (SFRP1/CRCT1/DLG2/SYCP2/CRNN). SYCP2 showed the highest consistent fold change from baseline in both fresh frozen and FFPE tissue (qRT-PCR fresh frozen tissue [P<0.04]; FFPE tissue pre-invasive [P<0.01]; FFPE tissue invasive [P<0.01]), and aberrant expression of this meiosis-specific protein may contribute to genetic instability during HPV-associated cancer development. Conclusion: Investigation of differentially expressed genes in HPV-positive tumours may reveal unique pathways that can explain their different natural history and biological properties. The data from this study reveal SYCP2 (amongst others) as a potential biomarker in HPV positive oropharyngeal carcinoma, and if corroborated on a larger scale, may facilitate the development of a non-invasive screening tool. Twenty four samples (12 matched invasive oropharyngeal carcinoma and normal epithelial controls).

Project description:Human papilloma (HPV) virus-like particle (VLP) vaccines were recently licensed. Though neutralizing antibody titers are thought to be the main effectors of protection against infection, early predictors of long-term efficacy are not yet defined and a comprehensive understanding of innate and adaptive immune responses to vaccination is still lacking. Here, microarrays were used to compare the gene expression signature in HPV-16 L1 VLP-stimulated PBMC from 17 vaccine and 4 placebo recipients before vaccination, and 1 month after receiving the second immunization. Vaccination with HPV-16 L1 VLP was associated with modulation of genes involved in the inflammatory/defense response, cytokine, interferon and cell cycle pathways in VLP-stimulated PBMC. In addition, there was up-regulation of probesets associated with cytotoxic (GZMB, TNFSF10) and regulatory (INDO, CTLA4) activities. The strongest correlations with neutralizing antibody titers were found for cyclin d2 (CCND2) and galectin (LGALS2). Twenty-two differentially expressed probesets were selected for confirmation by RT-PCR in an independent sample set. Agreement with the microarray data was seen for over two-thirds of these probesets. Up-regulation of immune/defense response genes by VLP, in particular interferon-induced genes was observed in PBMC collected prior to vaccination, with many of these genes being further induced following vaccination. In conclusion, we used gene expression profiling to identify important innate and adaptive response related- genes induced by vaccination with HPV VLP. Further studies are needed to identify gene expression signatures of immunogenicity and long-term protection with potential utility in prediction of long-term HPV vaccination outcomes in clinical trials. Experiment Overall Design: Microarrays (Affymetrix Human Focus) were used to compare the gene expression signature in PBMCs stimulated for 3 days with media alone, Sf9/baculovirus insect cell lysate, and HPV-16 L1 VLP expressed from baculovirus-infected Sf9 insect cells from 17 vaccine and 4 placebo recipients before vaccination, and 1 month after receiving the second immunization (2 months after the initial immunization. Post-vaccination baculovirus sample for Pt078 and pre-vaccination baculovirus sample for Pt082 failed QC.

Project description:Background: The incidence of human papillomavirus (HPV) associated oropharyngeal carcinomas has increased rapidly over the last thirty years. These tumours behave as a distinct biological entity when compared to classical smoking- and alcohol-related disease. To gain more information regarding the pathway through pre-malignancy in HPV positive/HPV negative oropharyngeal carcinoma (OSCC), we investigated genomewide expression profiles in histopathologically confirmed tumour samples with site-matched normal epithelial controls. Methods: Twenty-four patients with primary oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (4 with stage III and 20 with stage IV disease) were included in this prospective clinical trial (UKCRN11945). The tumour tissues were each assessed by a histopathologist with HPV status and typing by p16INK4A, consensus PGMY PCR, type-specific HPV16 DNA & RNA PCR and DNA sequencing. Fresh tissue samples were subjected to whole transcriptome analysis using the Illumina Bead Array (~47,000 transcripts) and the results validated with quantitative Real Time-PCR (qRT-PCR). In a separate cohort of twelve OSCC patients, laser capture micro-dissection of formalin fixed paraffin embedded (FFPE) tissue allowed RNA extraction from regions of in situ malignant change (with matched normal and invasive SCC samples). Results: The majority of OSCC patients (28/36) displayed evidence of high risk HPV positivity. Predictable fold changes of RNA expression in HPV-associated disease included multiple transcripts within the p53 oncogenic pathway (e.g. CDKN2A/CCND1). Other candidate transcripts found to have altered levels of expression in this study have not previously been established in HPV16 associated oropharyngeal cancer. These were involved in cell differentiation, proliferation and invasion and demonstrated considerable overlap with expression analysis data in other oncogenic pathways (SFRP1/CRCT1/DLG2/SYCP2/CRNN). SYCP2 showed the highest consistent fold change from baseline in both fresh frozen and FFPE tissue (qRT-PCR fresh frozen tissue [P<0.04]; FFPE tissue pre-invasive [P<0.01]; FFPE tissue invasive [P<0.01]), and aberrant expression of this meiosis-specific protein may contribute to genetic instability during HPV-associated cancer development. Conclusion: Investigation of differentially expressed genes in HPV-positive tumours may reveal unique pathways that can explain their different natural history and biological properties. The data from this study reveal SYCP2 (amongst others) as a potential biomarker in HPV positive oropharyngeal carcinoma, and if corroborated on a larger scale, may facilitate the development of a non-invasive screening tool.

Project description:Introduction: Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is associated with a subset of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), between 15% and 35% of HNSCC harboring HPV, almost exclusively of subtype 16. Demographic and exposure differences between HPV-positive (+) and negative (-) HNSCCs suggest that HPV(+) tumors may constitute a subclass with different biology, while clinical differences have also been observed. In this study, gene expression profiles of HPV(+) and (-) tumors were compared to further explore the biological effect of HPV in HNSCC. Methods: Thirty-six HNSCC tumors were analyzed for gene expression using Affymetrix Human 133U Plus 2.0 GeneChip and for HPV using consensus primers for HPV L1, E6 and E7 by PCR and RT-PCR. Results: Eight (22%) of 36 tumors were positive for HPV, all of the HPV 16 subtype, and the HPV positive samples also expressed viral HPV E6 mRNA determined by RT-PCR. Patients with HPV(+) HNSCCs were on average younger than those with HPV(-) tumors (mean age 50.2 vs. 58.7). Statistical analysis using Significance Analysis of Microarrays (SAM) based on HPV status as a supervising parameter resulted in a list of 91 genes that were differentially expressed with statistical significance. Results for a sub-set of these genes were verified by RT-PCR. Genes highly expressed in HPV(+) samples included cell cycle regulators (p16INK4A, p18 and CDK2) and transcription factors (TAF7L, RFC4, RPA2 and TFDP2). The microarray data were also investigated using DIGMap to map genes by chromosomal location. A large number of genes on chromosome 3q24-qter was found to be overrepresented in HPV(+) tumors. Conclusion: The gene expression profile associated with HPV reflects alterations in cell cycle and proliferation signals. Further investigation of differentially expressed genes may reveal the unique pathways in HPV(+) tumors that may explain the different natural history and biological properties of these tumors. These properties may be exploited as a target of novel therapeutic agents in HNSCC treatment. Keywords: HPV, HNSCC, head and neck cancer, human, human papilloma virus

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