Data from Characterization of the T-Cell Receptor Repertoire and Immune Microenvironment in Patients with Locoregionally Advanced Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Head and Neck

Everett Vokes,Aiman Fatima,Vassiliki Saloura,Yusuke Nakamura,Tanguy Seiwert,Kazuma Kiyotani,Mark Lingen,Riyue Bao,Nicole Cipriani,Makda Zewde,Arun Khattri,Ryan Brisson,Theodore Vougiouklakis,Yuji Ikeda,Jae-Hyun Park

doi:10.1158/1078-0432.c.6525056

Abstract

<div>AbstractPurpose: Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) is a lethal cancer with a suboptimal 5-year overall survival of approximately 50% with surgery and/or definitive chemoradiotherapy. Novel treatments are thus urgently awaited. Immunotherapy with checkpoint blockade has emerged as a promising option for patients with recurrent/metastatic SCCHN; however, it has not been investigated in the curative-intent setting yet. The purpose of this study was to investigate the T-cell receptor repertoire and the tumor microenvironment in tumor tissues of SCCHN patients with locoregionally advanced disease.Experimental Design: We performed T-cell receptor sequencing of tumor tissues from 44 patients with locoregionally advanced SCCHN prior to treatment with definitive chemoradiotherapy and correlated the T-cell clonality and the mRNA expression levels of immune-related genes with clinicopathologic parameters.Results: Clonal expansion of T cells was significantly higher in human papilloma virus (HPV)–negative compared with HPV-positive tumors, signifying more robust antigen presentation in HPV-negative tumors. The latter was supported by the higher percentage of HPV-negative tumors expressing HLA-A protein compared with HPV-positive tumors (P = 0.049). Higher GRZB levels correlated significantly with longer recurrence-free survival (log-rank, P = 0.003) independent of tumor size, nodal stage, and HPV status.Conclusions: Our findings support clonal expansion of T cells in SCCHN patients with locoregionally advanced disease and imply differences in the antigen presentation capacity between HPV-negative and HPV-positive tumors. Elevated GRZB mRNA levels may also serve as a favorable and independent predictor of outcome in SCCHN patients treated with chemoradiotherapy. These data provide rationale for the introduction of immunotherapeutic approaches in the curative-intent setting. Clin Cancer Res; 23(16); 4897–907. ©2017 AACR.</div>

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