Heterogeneous characterization of neutrophilic cells in head and neck cancers.

Background: Neutrophilic cells are among the most abundant immune populations within the head and neck tumor microenvironment (TME) and harbor multiple mechanisms of immunosuppression. Despite these important features, neutrophilic cells may be underrepresented in contemporary studies that aim to comprehensively characterize the immune landscape of the TME due to discrepancies in tissue processing and analysis techniques. Here, we review the role of pathologically activated neutrophilic cells within the TME and pitfalls of various approaches used to study their frequency and function in clinical samples.

Quantification and Functional Studies of Neutrophilic Cells Identifies Distinct Papilloma Phenotypes.

Objectives: To characterize the distribution of immune cell subsets within laryngeal papillomas and to study the function of potentially immunosuppressive neutrophilic and regulatory T cells (Tregs).

Methods: Fresh clinical papilloma specimens were collected at the time of surgery and studied with multiparameter flow cytometry. Papilloma infiltrating neutrophilic cells and Tregs were sorted and studied functionally with ex vivo T cell suppression assays.

Complete tumor resection reverses neutrophilia-associated suppression of systemic anti-tumor immunity.

Objectives: Tumor infiltrating neutrophils suppress T cell function, but whether neutrophils in circulation contribute to systemic immunosuppression is unclear. We aimed to study whether peripheral neutrophils that accumulate with tumor progression contribute to systemic immunosuppression, and if observed suppression of systemic anti-tumor immunity could be reversed with complete surgical tumor removal.

Materials And Methods: Syngeneic murine oral cancers were established in immunocompetent mice.

Oncogenic Ras and ΔNp63α cooperate to recruit immunosuppressive polymorphonuclear myeloid-derived suppressor cells in a mouse model of squamous cancer pathogenesis.

Introduction: Amplification of human chromosome 3q26-29, which encodes oncoprotein ΔNp63 among other isoforms of the p63 family, is a feature common to squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) of multiple tissue origins. Along with overexpression of ΔNp63, activation of the protooncogene, , whether by overexpression or oncogenic mutation, is frequently observed in many cancers. In this study, analysis of transcriptome data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) demonstrated that expression of , particularly isoforms, and are significantly elevated in advanced squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck (HNSCCs), suggesting pathological significance.