Matching primary tumor and blood gene expression analysis of HPV-negative squamous head and neck cancers (BIOMATCH - Head and Neck) - PNRR-MCNT1-2023-12377359

Our group at Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale Tumori previously developed and validated a molecular stratification in patients with curable head-and-neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) with prognostic and predictive values based on tumor tissue gene expression (GE). The present project aims at translating the subtype stratification on liquid biopsies exploiting a cohort of patients with curable HPV-negative HNSCC to forecast and easily monitor the risk of relapse after treatment. 300 newly-diagnosed patients with matched primary tumor pathological slides and longitudinal blood series will be collected prospectively for biological analyses including: i) multi-omics integration at bulk, single-cell, spatial levels for subtype stratification; ii) profiling of circulating biomarkers; iii) AI model development to implement longitudinal monitoring on liquid biopsies; iv) model development on tissue tumor slides to optimize classification for future applications in the clinical practice.