# Developing Imaging Biomarkers of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Response to Immunotherapy

> **NIH NIH F31** · ROSWELL PARK CANCER INSTITUTE CORP · 2022 · $32,412

## Abstract

Oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) are aggressive malignancies that are often diagnosed at advanced
stages in patients and therefore associated with a poor prognosis. Recently, immune checkpoint inhibitors
have received regulatory approval for advanced OSCC patients. Although some OSCC patients exhibit
remarkable response to immunotherapy, overall response rates remain low. Identifying an early noninvasive
biomarker of immunotherapeutic efficacy could therefore have a significant impact in patient selection. In this
regard, our laboratory has been investigating the potential of ultrasound (US) with spatially co-registered
photoacoustic imaging (PAI) to monitor OSCC progression and potentially predict response to immunotherapy.
Using a novel, orthotopic, immunocompetent model of OSCC (RP-MOC1) we have demonstrated the ability of
US-PAI to monitor functional vascular changes during OSCC progression. In preliminary studies, we have also
observed observed a significant association between early vascular response to immunotherapy detected by
US-PAI and long-term treatment outcomes. Based on these exciting preliminary observations, it is our
hypothesis that early vascular response to immunotherapy detected by US-PAI can serve as a biomarker of
OSCC progression and immunotherapeutic efficacy. To test this hypothesis, we will examine the spatio-temporal correlation between changes in tumor vascularity and T-cell profiles (Aim 1) and evaluate the ability
of US-PAI based hemodynamic response to prognosticate OSCC response to immunotherapy (Aim 2).
Successful completion of the proposed studies could enable further development of US-PAI as a novel
approach to guide patient selection, monitor immunotherapy, and predict outcomes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10413877
- **Project number:** 5F31DE031184-02
- **Recipient organization:** ROSWELL PARK CANCER INSTITUTE CORP
- **Principal Investigator:** Celia DeJohn
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $32,412
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-06-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10413877

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10413877, Developing Imaging Biomarkers of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Response to Immunotherapy (5F31DE031184-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10413877. Licensed CC0.

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