Abstract 5035A: Intratumoral HPV16-specific T-cells determine clinical outcome of HPV16+ oropharyngeal carcinomas

• Published in: Cancer research (Chicago, Ill.) Ill.), 2016-07, Vol.76 (14_Supplement), p.5035-5035A
• Main Authors: Welters, Marij J., van der Velden, Lilly-Ann, van Ham, Vanessa J., Ehsan, Ilina, Goedemans, Renske, Santegoets, Saskia J., van der Burg, Sjoerd H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Papillomaviridae
• ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445
• DOI: 10.1158/1538-7445.AM2016-5035A

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is the sixth most common cancer. While the number of HNSCC cases is decreasing, the number of oropharyngeal SCC (OSCC) is rising, especially in young adults. OSCC are increasingly (45-90%) caused by human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16). Intriguingly, patients with HPV-induced OSCC respond better to therapy than HPV-negative OSCC. This is independent of nodal status, age, stage, tumor differentiation or gender. We hypothesized that the expression of the viral antigens E6 and E7 in HPV16+ OSCC equips the immune system with two strong tumor-specific antigens resulting in the development of a type 1 T-cell immune contexture supporting the better response of HPV+ OSCC to standard therapy. To test our hypothesis we studied 87 patients with OSCC. The tumors of these patients were tested for the presence of HPV by GP5+/6+ PCR and the expression of p16 by immunohistochemistry. Moreover, fresh tumor tissue was dispersed, cryopreserved and subsequently used for in-depth analyses regarding the composition of the leukocyte infiltrates using a large set of antibodies either by CyTOF or BD Fortessa. In addition, T-cell reactivity was tested directly ex vivo and after a short-term culture period. 57% of OSCC patients were HPV16+ and they showed the best overall survival (p