Funded by the St. Louis Blues in support of Hockey Fights Cancer powered by the V Foundation
Tumors of the throat (called oropharynx carcinoma or OPC) are on the rise in the US and worldwide. Most of these are caused by a virus, called human papilloma virus (HPV). Current treatment of these tumors is fairly effective. As a result, researchers have been trying to reduce treatment to avoid side effects and problems with speech, swallow, and taste. But a portion of OPC patients do not have good outcomes. We are interested in identifying these patients before treatment begins so we can give them the right treatments. We found that some cancer cells turn off virus expression and this makes them treatment resistance and causes poor survival. In this study, we will use human models of OPC to understand what turns HPV expression on and off. We will also learn how different cancer cells with or without HPV talk with other cells in the tumor environment such as fibroblasts and immune cells.
