HNSCC TMA research
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigating the tumour microenvironment as a determinant of outcome in HPV-positive and HPV-negative Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
IRAS ID
345108
Contact name
Caroline Morrell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford/Research Governance, Ethics and Assurance
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 6 months, 31 days
Research summary
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is increasing in incidence, and has poor survival outcomes. Survivors have long-term treatment related problems, including difficulties speaking, swallowing and breathing. There are two main tumour types. HPV-positive tumours are caused by the human papilloma virus, and tend to have a high number of immune cells within the tumour, and good treatment responses. HPV-negative HNSCC is caused mostly by smoking and alcohol use, and tumours have fewer immune cells within them, and respond poorly to treatment. The mechanisms behind this difference remain unclear.
This project will use three existing tissue microarray (TMA) blocks of tumour samples with associated clinical data from 86 patients with HNSCC. This project aims to leverage the differences between HPV-positive and HPV-negative HNSCC to improve our understanding of the tumour microenvironment and how this relates to treatment response and outcome.
Specifically, we will characterise cells, proteins and microbes within the tumour samples, to see how these are organised using cutting edge laboratory imaging techniques. These allow us to take images with a high level of detail, showing for example the proteins and genes being expressed by each cell. We will assess interactions between the cells, proteins and microbes using computer-based analysis, and develop new methods to understand how the tumour cells behave. We will compare our findings between HPV-positive and HPV-negative tumours, to try and understand the differences in the immune systems response to these tumours. We will correlate our findings with data on patient outcomes to see if we can find new ways to target treatments.
The large number of samples in the TMA blocks will give these exploratory investigations the power to give new insights into how tumours behave. We hope this will lead to improved diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for both HPV-positive and HPV-negative HNSCC patients.REC name
Wales REC 4
REC reference
25/WA/0093
Date of REC Opinion
25 Mar 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion