Abstract
Objective: 1) Understand types of infiltrating immune cells that contribute to the tumor microenvironment. 2) Understand the relative difference in immune infiltrates between aggressive and indolent tumor phenotypes in a new syngeneic model of OSCC.
Method: This research is a preclinical scientific study focusing on mouse derived oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma that was conducted over 6 months at Washington University in St Louis. This study analyzed tumor infiltrating immune cells by flow cytometry and identified individual infiltrating populations associated with either aggressive or indolent growth.
Results: Indolent growing mouse oral cancer (MOC) lines were associated with increased expression of increased MHC class I expression and increased CD8+ T-cell infiltration into the tumor microenvironment. However, aggressive and metastatic MOC lines were associated with decreased class I expression and increased FOXP3+ CD4+ T-cell infiltration and targeting these regulatory T-cells delayed tumor growth in vivo.
Conclusion: These data validate that key infiltrating immune cells identified here parallel findings in human head and neck cancer, making this newly developed syngeneic model a critical platform for the continued dissection of tumor-host interactions in head and neck cancer.
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