Infiltrating lymphocytes and human papillomavirus-16--associated oropharyngeal cancer.

Objectives/hypothesis: Human papillomavirus-16 (HPV-16)-associated carcinoma of the oropharynx has a favorable prognosis. Such patients have elevated CD8+ T-lymphocyte levels that correlate with response to chemotherapy and survival. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) subpopulations were assessed in pretreatment biopsies from a prospective patient cohort to determine if TIL subsets differed by HPV status, clinical factors, or patient outcome or correlated with peripheral blood T-cell levels.

Correlation of cellular immunity with human papillomavirus 16 status and outcome in patients with advanced oropharyngeal cancer.

Objective: to determine whether the favorable outcome associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) 16-positive oropharyngeal cancer is related to a patient's adaptive immunity.

Setting: academic medical center.

Patients: forty-seven of 66 previously untreated patients (6 of 20 patients with stage III and 41 of 46 with stage IV cancer) in a prospective clinical trial of chemoradiotherapy.