6th ICHNO Abstract Book

6th ICHNO 6 th ICHNO Conference International Conference on innovative approaches in Head and Neck Oncology 16 – 18 March 2017 Barcelona, Spain __________________________________________________________________________________________ PO-098 Searching for therapeutic targets from whole page 47

The prognosis on the whole is very high, with cure rates published in excess of 90%; this presents unique challenges for patient management in view of the late consequences of H&N cancer treatment. Additionally, because HPV is a sexually transmitted infection, the diagnosis may have an impact on patients’ emotional and psychological wellbeing. We conducted a survey of H&N cancer clinicians from oncology departments in the UK and Ireland, to increase understanding about the current management of patients with HPV positive H&N cancers. Material and Methods During March 2016, 55 H&N clinicians from centres across the UK and Ireland were invited to complete an e-mail survey about their current practices in relation to HPV screening, counselling on the implications of HPV positivity and approaches to treatment. Results The majority of respondents (85%, 47/55) were consultant clinical or medical oncologists (n=44 and n=3, respectively), with the remaining 8 comprising H&N cancer specialist nurses (n=3), specialist oncology registrars/clinical fellows (n=3) and surgeons (n=2). 36% of respondents (20/55) said that they routinely test all H&N cancer patients for HPV, 60% (33/55) test only specific subgroups (oropharyngeal [n=28], unknown primary [n=6], oral cavity [n=3], basaloid [n=1]) and 4% (2/55) don’t test routinely. The estimated percentage of patients with oropharyngeal cancer who are HPV positive ranged between respondents from 5-80%, with a median of 60% ( figure 1 ). The number of respondents from each UK region was low, but median HPV prevalence estimates ranged from 25% in Ireland (n=5) to 75% in the South of England (n=8) and Wales (n=3). 33% of respondents (18/55) routinely counsel patients about the implications of HPV positivity, 47% (26/55) provide counselling only when asked and 20% (11/55) don’t provide routine counselling. 33% (18/55) have literature available in clinic about HPV positive tumours. Outside of clinical trials, 91% (50/55) don’t treat HPV positive patients differently to HPV negative patients.

transcriptome of oral cancer B. Roy 1 , N. De Sarkar 2 , R. Singh 1 1 Indian Statistical Institute, Human genetics, Kolkata, India 2 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, HB Division, Seattle, USA Purpose or Objective Gingivo-buccal squamous cell carcinoma (GBSCC) is one of the most common oral cavity cancers in India. Even after decades of intense research, 5-year survival is less than 50%. So, it is necessary to discover therapeutic targets for better treatment of oral cancer patient. To search for therapeutic targets; expression and somatic mutations in whole transcriptomes of GBSCC from tobacco smokers and smokeless tobacco users/chewers were examined. Material and Methods Whole transcriptome data from 12 pairs of GBSCC and adjacent normal tissues were generated by next generation sequencing method in Illumina platform. Data were analyzed to find out expression deregulation and somatic mutations of the transcripts. Results Expression of 1582 genes was significantly deregulated in cancer tissues. Data analysis indicated that cell-cell adhesion and ECM-receptor processes were most aberrant pathways. Other altered pathways include AMPK, PPAR and arachidonic acid metabolism which may highlight their importance in primary GBSCC. Interestingly, smokeless tobacco users/chewers were clustered together when expression deregulation of genes involved in cell adhesion, proteoglycans, AMPK and PPAR pathways were considered for cluster analysis. We also generated proliferation score using expression of cell cycle progression marker genes and found that smokeless tobacco users tend to show higher proliferation score. Tumors from smokers and smokeless tobacco users have distinct CD47 & SIRPA and PD-1 & PDL-1 expression, respectively, and a range of variation in infiltrating immune cell signature to infer differential immune evasion strategy. Integrative analysis of miRNA and mRNA expression helped us to identify several important miRNAs which are playing important roles in shaping expression profiles of several cell adhesion, tissue architecture maintenance and energy metabolism pathways. Conclusion Transcriptome analysis highlighted few potential targetable nodes and neo-antigens which could be effective precision therapeutic or immunotherapeutic targets. Further, this study also suggests that therapeutic targets might be different for oral cancer patients who used smoking or smokeless tobacco. Data of deleterious somatic and germline variants along with expression profile could be useful in treatment plan. PO-099 Human papillomavirus in head and neck cancer in the UK: a clinician survey of current practice B. Foran 1 , J. Fenwick 2 , B. Byrne 2 , J. Christian 3 1 Weston Park Hospital, Oncology, Sheffield, United Kingdom 2 Merck Serono Ltd- UK- an affiliate of Merck KGaA- Darmstadt- Germany, Medical Affairs, Feltham, United Kingdom 3 Nottingham City Hospital, Oncology, Nottingham, United Kingdom Purpose or Objective An increasing number of head and neck (H&N) cancers are associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. Compared with HPV negative H&N cancers, HPV positive tumours tend to affect younger patients and non-smokers.

Conclusion The wide range in the estimated percentage of patients with oropharyngeal cancer who are HPV positive suggests that there may be geographical variations in the prevalence of HPV in different areas of the UK. This would correlate with known national variation in cigarette smoking. Differences in HPV screening practice were also identified, with some clinicians routinely testing all patients and others testing only specific subgroups. There is a need for more literature about HPV positive tumours, to facilitate healthcare professional discussions with