Characterization of tumor microenvironment and Immune infiltration in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), is a frequent malignant tumor of the head and neck. Most HNSCC arise in the lip, oral cavity, paranasal sinuses, oropharynx, larynx, nasopharynx, and the pharynx. HNSCC is a heterogeneous disease entity, and the role of immune cells in HNSCC, particularly in immunotherapy has not yet been extensively studied. Method: In this study, we applied CIBERSORT to infer the infiltration of 22 subsets of TIICs using gene expression data. This was to determine the relationship of the immune subpopulation, patients’ survival, function, and expression differences to reveal potential targets and biomarkers for immunotherapy. Results: Somatic mutations were the most common and the variant classification was missense mutation. The most common DNA sequence polymorphism type was SNP and the most common single nucleotide variants (SNV) class was C>T. The median number of variants per sample was 78 in HNSCC patients. The top 10 mutated genes related to TMB were TP53, TTN, FAT1, MUC16, CDKN2A, CSMD3, SYNE1, LRP1B, NOTCH1, and PIK3CA. We portrayed the immune scene in detail, uncovering the awesome immune infiltration styles of various subtypes in HNSCC. Conclusion: The intricate connection between TIIC, TMB, and genomic alterations was additionally set up. Our paintings advance the information of immune response and offer significant assets for research to enhance immunotherapy.