Identification and validation of novel microenvironment-based immune molecular subgroups of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: implications for immunotherapy

Abstract

Background

Targeting the immune checkpoint pathway has demonstrated anti-tumor cytotoxicity in treatment-refractory head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC). To understand the molecular mechanisms underpinning its anti-tumor response, we characterized the immune landscape of HNSC by their tumor and stromal compartments to identify novel immune molecular subgroups.

Patients and methods

A training cohort of 522 HNSC samples from the Cancer Genome Atlas profiled by RNA sequencing was analyzed. We separated gene expression patterns from tumor, stromal, and immune cell gene using a non-negative matrix factorization algorithm. We correlated the expression patterns with a set of immune-related gene signatures, potential immune biomarkers, and clinicopathological features. Six independent datasets containing 838 HNSC samples were used for validation.

Results

Approximately 40% of HNSCs in the cohort (211/522) were identified to show enriched inflammatory response, enhanced cytolytic activity and active interferon-γ signaling (all, P < 0.001). We named this new molecular class of tumors the Immune Class. Then we found it contained two distinct microenvironment-based subtypes, characterized by markers of active or exhausted immune response. The Exhausted Immune Class was characterized by enrichment of activated stroma and anti-inflammatory M2 macrophage signatures, WNT/TGF-β signaling pathway activation and poor survival (all, P < 0.05). An enriched proinflammatory M1 macrophage signature, enhanced cytolytic activity, abundant tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), high human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and favorable prognosis was associated with Active Immune Class (all, P < 0.05). The robustness of these immune molecular subgroups was verified in the validation cohorts, and Active Immune Class showed potential response to PD-1 blockade (P = 0.01).

Conclusions

This study revealed a novel Immune Class in HNSC; two subclasses characterized by active or exhausted immune responses were also identified. These findings provide new insights into tailoring immunotherapeutic strategies for different HNSC subgroups.

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