Tumor immune microenvironment in head and neck cancers

Abstract

Head and neck cancers are a heterogeneous group of tumors that are highly aggressive and collectively represent the sixth most common cancer worldwide.Ninety percent of head and neck cancers are squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs).The tumor microenvironment (TME) of HNSCCs consists of many different subsets of cells that infiltrate the tumors and interact with the tumor cells or with each other through various networks. Both innate and adaptive immune cells play a crucial role in mediating immune surveillance and controlling tumor growth. Here, we discuss the different subsets of immune cells and how they contribute to an immunosuppressive TME of HNSCCs. We also briefly summarize recent advances in immunotherapeutic approaches for HNSCC treatment. A better understanding of the multiple factors that play pivotal roles in HNSCC tumorigenesis and tumor progression may help define novel targets to develop more effective immunotherapies for patients with HNSCC.

Differences in TCR repertoire and T cell activation underlie the divergent outcomes of antitumor immune responses in tumor-eradicating versus tumor-progressing hosts

“…4 5 Human HNSCC samples exhibit a wide range of mutational burden and Open access infiltration of T cells and other immune cells. [6][7][8][9] Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), such as antibodies against programmed death-1 (PD-1), have been approved for HNSCCs but efficacy varies considerably in different patients and the response rate remains relatively low. [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Variable responses to therapies may be partially attributed to the heterogeneous antitumor immune responses in patients with HNSCC, evidenced by a highly variable level of T cell infiltration before treatment.…”

Deletion of p53 and Hyper-Activation of PIK3CA in Keratin-15+ Stem Cells Lead to the Development of Spontaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma

“…It has been established that the two subsets of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), namely, M-MDSC (monocytic-MDSC) defined as CD11b + Ly6G − Ly6C high and PMN-MDSC (polymorphonuclear-MDSC) defined as CD11b + Ly6G + Ly6C low , play a pivotal role in immune suppression during tumorigenesis [ 16 ]. By gating on the CD11b + population with gating strategies established previously ( Supplemental Figure S5 ) [ 16 , 17 ], we examined the percentage of M-MDSC vs. PMN-MDSC in both SCC tumors and splenic controls ( Figure 3 D,E, Supplemental Figure S3 D). We found that the percentage of M-MDSC did not differ between the TB spleen and A223 tumors ( Figure 3 E).…”

Insights into Nanomedicine for Immunotherapeutics in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the head and neck

“…HNSCC tumors interfere with the immune system by employing many mechanisms that modulate functions of immune cells to develop immune evasion and immune escape (for more detailed information, please refer to reviews by Albers et al and Qian et al [18,19]). The potential mechanisms for the dysfunction of biological steps in immunity against cancer cells being responsible for the limited response to ICB treatment have been explored in HNSCC [11,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. Recently, three tumorimmunophenotypes and related molecular pathways have been recognized according to the spatial distribution of T cells within the tumor microenvironment [23].…”