Imaging biomarker of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes to risk-stratify patients with HPV-associated OPSCC

HPV-associated oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) has excellent control rates compared to non-virally associated OPSCC. Multiple trials are testing whether de-escalation of treatment intensity for these patients is safe. OP-TIL is a biomarker that characterizes the spatial interplay between tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and surrounding cells in histology images. A study of six institutional cohorts in the USA found that among patients with stage 1 HPV-associated OPSCC, OP-TIL can identify high-risk patients likely to be poor candidates for treatment de-escalation.