Novel strategies for head and neck cancer immunotherapy

Abstract

Otolaryngologists and head and neck surgeons treat multiple categories of immune-related diseases, including infections, allergies, vasculitis, and tumors. Head and neck cancer was previously considered a non-immune target; however, recent evidence suggests that this malignancy expresses tumor antigens that are effectively recognized by immune cells. Identification of tumor antigen epitopes is important to augment the number of antitumor T cells. We identified >10 epitopes from tumor antigens that showed high levels of expression in head and neck cancer. T-cell activation by antigen-presenting cells involves the following signals: epitope-induced T cell receptor signaling, co-stimulatory molecules, and cytokines. Our study demonstrates that systemic administration of toll-like receptor ligands and co-stimulatory molecular agonists may significantly inhibit tumor growth with peptide vaccines. In this review, we summarize the current understanding of the immune environment in head and neck cancers and discuss approaches to utilize this knowledge to develop novel immunotherapeutic strategies.