The Codon 72 Arginine Polymorphism Is Found with Increased Somatic Mutations in HPV(-) and in an Increased Percentage among HPV(+) Norwegian HNSCC Patients.

Background: Somatic mutations are frequent in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and are important pathogenic factors.

Objective: To study mutations relative to the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in tumors in HNSCC patients.

Methods: Using a custom-made next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tumor tissue, we analyzed somatic mutations and the single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) codon 72 (P72R; rs1042522) (proline → arginine) from 104 patients with HNSCC.

Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing of Cancer-Related Genes in a Norwegian Patient Cohort With Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Reveals Novel Actionable Mutations and Correlations With Pathological Parameters.

Background: Targeted next-generation sequencing (NGS) is increasingly applied in clinical oncology to advance personalized treatment. Despite success in many other tumour types, use of targeted NGS panels for assisting diagnosis and treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) is still limited.

Aim: The focus of this study was to establish a robust NGS panel targeting most frequent cancer mutations in long-term preserved formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue samples of HNSCC from routine diagnostics.