ArticleCancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII2021
Characterization of the tumor immune microenvironment in human papillomavirus-positive and -negative head and neck squamous cell carcinomas.
Article in Cancer immunology, immunotherapy : CII, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
What it found
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Phase II Basket Trial of Dual Anti-CTLA-4 and Anti-PD-1 Blockade in Rare Tumors SWOG S1609: Vulvar Cancers.Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research · 2025Trial
- Neoadjuvant nivolumab for patients with resectable HPV-positive and HPV-negative squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck in the CheckMate 358 trial.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2021Trial
- Selection Criteria for De-Escalated Chemoradiotherapy for HPV-Related Oropharyngeal Cancer Based on Prognostic Biomarkers or Early Tumor Response to Therapy: A Narrative Review.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Association between ultraviolet-related TP53 mutations and immune microenvironment in equine ocular squamous cell carcinoma.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Diagnostic, Prognostic, and Predictive Molecular Biomarkers in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Comprehensive Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Review
- Article
- CT Texture Patterns Reflect HPV Status but Not Histological Differentiation in Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.Cancers · 2025Article
- Review
- Immune microenvironment of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-negative compared to EBV-associated gastric cancers: implications for immunotherapy.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2024Article
- Future investigative directions for novel therapeutic targets in head and neck cancer.Expert review of anticancer therapy · 2024Review
- Comparing anti-tumor and anti-self immunity in a patient with melanoma receiving immune checkpoint blockade.Journal of translational medicine · 2024Article
- Assessing PD-L1 Expression in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma: Trials and Tribulations.Head and neck pathology · 2023Review
- The High-Risk Human Papillomavirus Type Influences the Tissue Microenvironment in Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia Grade 2.Viruses · 2023Article
- Review
- Evolving landscape of PD-L2: bring new light to checkpoint immunotherapy.British journal of cancer · 2023Review
- PD1Biomedicines · 2022Article
- Review
- 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-naïve tumors with immune checkpoint inhibitors.Journal of experimental & clinical cancer research : CR · 2022Article
- Tumor Cell Extrinsic Synaptogyrin 3 Expression as a Diagnostic and Prognostic Biomarker in Head and Neck Cancer.Cancer research communications · 2022Article
- Why responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors are heterogeneous in head and neck cancers: Contributions from tumor-intrinsic and host-intrinsic factors.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Approximately 15% of advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) respond to anti-PD-(L)1 monotherapies. Tumor PD-L1 expression and human papillomavirus (HPV) status have been proposed as biomarkers to identify patients likely to benefit from these treatments. We aimed to understand the potential immune effects of HPV in HNSCC and to characterize additional potentially targetable immune-regulatory pathways in primary, treatment-naïve tumors. CD3, CD4, CD8, CD20, CD68, FoxP3, PD-1, PD-L2, LAG-3, IDO-1, and GITR cell densities were determined in 27 HNSCC specimens. IHC for PD-L1 assessed percentage of positive tumor cells and immune cells separately or as a combined positive score (CPS), and whether PD-L1 was expressed in an adaptive or constitutive pattern (i.e., PD-L1+ tumor cells juxtaposed to TILs or in the absence of TILs, respectively). HPV testing with p16 IHC was confirmed by HPV genotyping. When compared to HPV(-) tumors (n = 14), HPV+ tumors (n = 13) contained significantly higher densities of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+, CD20+, and PD-1+ cells (P < 0.02), and there was a trend towards increased density of FoxP3 + cells. PD-L1 expression patterns did not vary by tumor viral status, suggesting possible heterogeneous mechanisms driving constitutive vs adaptive PD-L1 expression patterns in HNSCC. IDO-1 expression was abundant (> 500 IDO-1+ cells/mm
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