Characteristics and long-term outcomes of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma after solid organ transplantation

Head and neck cancer accounts for approximately 500,000 cases annually worldwide, with over 62,000 Americans diagnosed each year and almost 13,000 dying from the disease [1,2]. It is well-recognized that the immune system plays a major role in anti-tumor surveillance in healthy individuals, a finding that is confirmed by the increased incidence of cancer diagnosis in some acquired (such as after organ transplant) or hereditary (such as GATA2 deficiency) immunodeficiency states [3]. Our understanding of the interactions between immunity and tumorigenesis is growing at a fast rate such that modulating the immune system has been the largest breakthrough in cancer therapy in the last decade [4].

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