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Updated: Aug 14, 2025
Tumor Hypoxia Assessment: In Vivo 3D Oxygen Imaging Through Electron Paramagnetic Resonance
Published on: February 14, 2025
Multi-omics characterization of a scoring system to quantify hypoxia patterns in patients with head and neck squamous
Cong Peng1, Huiping Ye2, Zhengyang Li1
1Department of Otolaryngology, Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guiyang, China.
Background:
The 5-year survival rate of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remains < 50%. Hypoxia patterns are a hallmark of HNSCC that are associated with its occurrence and progression. However, the precise role of hypoxia during HNSCC, such as the relationship between hypoxia, tumor immune landscape and cell communication orchestration remains largely unknown. The current study integrated data from bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing analyses to define the relationship between hypoxia and HNSCC.
Methods:
A scoring system named the hypoxia score (HS) was constructed based on hypoxia-related genes (HRGs) expression. The predictive value of HS response for patient outcomes and different treatments was evaluated. Single-cell datasets and cell communication were utilized to rule out cell populations which hypoxia targeted on.
Results:
The survival outcomes, immune/Estimate scores, responses to targeted inhibitors, and chemotherapeutic, and immunotherapy responses were distinct between a high HS group and a low HS group (all P < 0.05). Single-cell datasets showed different distributions of HS in immune cell populations (P < 0.05). Furthermore, HLA-DPA1/CD4 axis was identified as a unique interaction between CD4 + T Conv and pDC cells.
Conclusions:
Altogether, the quantification for hypoxia patterns is a potential biomarker for prognosis, individualized chemotherapeutic and immunotherapy strategies. The portrait of cell communication characteristics over the HNSCC ecosystem enhances the understanding of hypoxia patterns in HNSCC.
