Germline determinants of humoral immune response to HPV-16 protect against oropharyngeal cancer

Ferreiro-Iglesias, A. et al. (2021) Germline determinants of humoral immune response to HPV-16 protect against oropharyngeal cancer. Nature Communications, 12, 5945. (doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-26151-9) (PMID:34642315) (PMCID:PMC8511029)

Abstract

Although several oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) susceptibility loci have been identified, most previous studies lacked detailed information on human papillomavirus (HPV) status. We conduct a genome-wide analysis by HPV16 serology status in 4,002 oral cancer cases (OPC and oral cavity cancer (OCC)) and 5,256 controls. We detect four susceptibility loci pointing to a distinct genetic predisposition by HPV status. Our most notable finding in the HLA region, that is now confirmed to be specific of HPV(+)OPC risk, reveal two independent loci with strong protective effects, one refining the previously reported HLA class II haplotype association. Antibody levels against HPV16 viral proteins strongly implicate the protective HLA variants as major determinants of humoral response against L1 capsid protein or E6 oncoprotein suggesting a natural immune response against HPV(+)OPC promoted by HLA variants. This indicates that therapeutic vaccines that target E6 and attenuate viral response after established HPV infections might protect against HPV(+)OPC.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Conway, Professor David and Wright, Dr Sylvia
• Authors: Ferreiro-Iglesias, A., McKay, J. D., Brenner, N., Virani, S., Lesseur, C., Gaborieau, V., Ness, A. R., Hung, R. J., Liu, G., Diergaarde, B., Olshan, A. F., Hayes, N., Weissler, M. C., Schroeder, L., Bender, N., Pawlita, M., Thomas, S., Pring, M., Dudding, T., Kanterewicz, B., Ferris, R., Thomas, S., Brhane, Y., Díez-Obrero, V., Milojevic, M., Smith-Byrne, K., Mariosa, D., Johansson, M. J., Herrero, R., Boccia, S., Cadoni, G., Lacko, M., Holcátová, I., Ahrens, W., Lagiou, P., Lagiou, A., Polesel, J., Simonato, L., Merletti, F., Healy, C. M., Hansen, B. T., Nygård, M., Conway, D. I., Wright, S., Macfarlane, T. V., Robinson, M., Alemany, L., Agudo, A., Znaor, A., Amos, C. I., Waterboer, T., and Brennan, P.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cancer Sciences; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Medicine, Dentistry & Nursing > Dental School
• Journal Name: Nature Communications
• Publisher: Nature Research
• ISSN: 2041-1723
• ISSN (Online): 2041-1723
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Nature Communications 12: 5945
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License