The role of the genomic mutation signature and tumor mutation burden on relapse risk prediction in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma after concurrent chemoradiotherapy

Personalized genetic profiling has focused on improving treatment efficacy and predicting risk stratification by identifying mutated genes and selecting targeted agents according to genetic testing. Therefore, we evaluated the role of genetic profiling and tumor mutation burden (TMB) using next-generation sequencing in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC). The relapse mutation signature (RMS) and chromatin remodeling mutation signature (CRMS) were explored to predict the risk of relapse in patients with HNSC treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) with platinum-based chemotherapy. Patients in the high RMS and CRMS groups showed significantly shorter relapse-free survival than those in the low RMS and CRMS groups, respectively (p < 0.001 and p = 0.006). Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that extranodal extension, CCRT response, and three somatic mutation profiles (TMB, RMS, and CRMS) were independent risk predictors for HNSC relapse. The predictive nomogram showed satisfactory performance in predicting relapse-free survival in patients with HNSC treated with CCRT.