FAP is a prognostic marker, but not a viable therapeutic target for clinical translation in HNSCC

PD-1 targeted immunotherapy has imparted a survival benefit to advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), but less than 20% patients produce a durable response to this therapy. Here we aimed to investigate the potential biomarkers for predicting the clinical outcome and resistance to PD-1 targeted immunotherapy in HNSCC patients, and to examine the involvement of FAP⁺ cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs).

Bioinformatics methods were applied to analyze multiple datasets and explore the role of PD-1 and FAP in HNSCC. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of FAP protein. Fap gene knockout mice (Fap^-/-) and L929 cells with different levels of Fap overexpression (L929-Fap-Low/High) were established to demonstrate the role of FAP⁺ CAFs in tumor development and immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) resistance.

The expression level of PD-1 gene was positively correlated with better overall survival and therapeutic response to PD-1 blockade in HNSCC, but not all tumors with high expression of both PD-1 and PD-L1 were responsive. Moreover, FAP gene was overexpressed in pan-cancer tissues, and could serve as a prognostic biomarker for several cancers, including HNSCC. However, FAP protein was undetectable in mouse MTCQ1 tumors and barely expressed in human HNSCC tumors. Furthermore, FAP⁺ CAFs did not promote tumor growth or enhance the resistance to PD-1 inhibitor treatment.

Although FAP⁺ CAFs have attracted increasing attention for their role in cancer, the feasibility and efficacy of FAP-targeting therapies for HNSCC remain doubtful.