Abstract
Patients with human papilloma virus (HPV)-associated head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) have remarkably better prognosis, which differs from HPV-negative oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) with respect to clinical, genomic, molecular, and immunological aspects, especially having the characteristics of high levels of immune cell infiltration and high degrees of immunosuppression. This review will summarize immune evasion mechanisms in HPV-positive HNSCC, analyze the host various immune responses to HPV and abundant numbers of infiltrating immune cell, and discuss the differences between HPV-positive HNSCC with cervical cancer. A deeper understanding of the immune landscape will help new concepts to emerge in immune-checkpoint oncology, which might be a valuable add-on to established concepts.
Highlights
Head and neck cancers, mainly comprising squamous cell carcinoma, are the sixth commonly diagnosed cancer in the world with nearly 600,000 new cases per year [1, 2]
human papilloma virus (HPV) E6 and E7 proteins were found to interfere with macrophage inflammatory protein 3 (MIP-3) transcription, which leaded to a reduced migration of immature Langerhans cells (LCs) and a reductive level of immune surveillance at the area of HPV infection [65]
Several immune evasion mechanisms have been mentioned above, HPV-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) has a better prognosis, and is more sensitive to radiotherapy and chemotherapy compared with HPV-negative HNSCC, which may be due to the effective immune responses to viral and abundant numbers of infiltrating immune cells [3] (Figure 2)
Summary
Mainly comprising squamous cell carcinoma, are the sixth commonly diagnosed cancer in the world with nearly 600,000 new cases per year [1, 2]. Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) represent a heterogeneous group of tumors located in the oral cavity, oropharynx, hypopharynx and larynx [3]. Human papilloma virus (HPV) has been regarded as another important pathogenic factor for HNSCC, especially for oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC).HPV 16 with a prevalence over the 80% in OPSCC is the most common among the HPV types that can cause HNSCC, followed by HPV18 (3%) [4]. The specific and detailed molecular mechanisms of HPV contributing to HNSCC remain unclear
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