Profiles of immune cell infiltration and immune-related genes in the tumor microenvironment of HNSCC with or without HPV infection.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) are the sixth most common cancer type in the world. Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is an emerging risk factor for HNSCC. Immune infiltration of HNSCC is linked to therapeutic results. This article aimed to decide whether variations in HPV status affect immune infiltration, molecular mechanism, and how these results vary in HNSCC patients. We investigated the tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TIICs) and immune-related gene differences between HPV (+) and HPV (-) HNSCC. The gene expression quantification data of HNSCC and their clinical information were download from the TCGA database. Immune-related genes have been linked to the ImmPort platform. After analyzed of 22 TIICs in the HNSCC tumor environment by CIBERSORT and further assessment, lower memory B cell and higher T cell regulatory were connected with better HPV (-) HNSCC outcome, higher activated memory CD4 T cell, higher T cell regulatory, and lower activated NK cell were linked with better HPV (+) result. We finally got five forms of immune genes (CAMP, EDNRB, NTS, CXCL9, LHB) associated with HNSCC progression. Higher expressions of CAMP, EDNRB, and NTS were associated with increased overall survival in HPV (-) patients. Higher expression of CXCL9 and lower expression of LHB contributed to increased overall survival of HPV (+) patients. There tend to be discrepancies in the cell structure of TIICs and immune-related genes in HPV (-) and HPV (+) HNSCC. These variances are typically too crucial for the therapeutic outcome of the patient and the development of the tumor. In specific, our sample established these candidate immune cells and immune-related genes as candidate reservoirs for further researches.