Double-agent.

Immunotherapy response in head and neck cancer is pretty disappointing, even for HPV(+) disease. This study looks at early phase development of an immunotherapy complement in HPV(+) head and neck tumors using a DNA plasmid that amps up expression of HPV antigens E6 and E7. Immunogenicity is further enhanced by including IL-12 in the plasmid. Patients experienced good tumor specific immune responses—some of which were durable. | Aggarwal, Clin Cancer Res 2018