A study led by researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center has found that patients with head and neck cancer who have more genetic material at a specific region on chromosome 9 in their cancer cells survive three times longer after receiving immune checkpoint therapy (ICT) than those with less genetic material at the same position. The results found patients with HPV-negative head and neck squamous-cell (HNSC-HPVneg) cancers who exhibited an increased dosage of a region on chromosome 9 called 9p24.1 in their cancer cells lived for 30 months on average after anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy, while those with a lower 9p24.1 dosage survived for 11 months on average.
