Human papillomavirus therapeutic vaccines in head and neck tumors

Head and neck cancer represents one of the most challenging diseases as the mortality remains high despite advances in early diagnosis and treatment. Human papillomavirus has been implicated in a third of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas and human papillomavirus type 16 is strongly associated with carcinomas arising from the oropharynx, the tonsil being the preferred infected site. Novel therapeutic approaches including immunotherapy are currently under investigation. Immune vaccines developed against human papillomavirus in the genital area are already available and could simultaneously protect other anatomical localizations; however, prophylactic vaccines are expected to be effective in reducing the incidence of tumors after many years and, therefore, there is an urgent need to improve therapeutic interventions, such as immunotherapy. To date, human papillomavirus therapeutic vaccines are either at the preclinical level or at early phase human trials for genital pathologies. Nevertheless, accumula...