Tumour-infiltrating T cells in laryngeal cancer show a distinctive TCR β repertoire

Laryngeal cancer is a common malignant tumour of the head and neck region, marked by rapid local infiltration, poor prognosis and low survival rate. Treatment outcomes remain unsatisfactory, including those involving tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy, which has shown effectiveness in solid tumours. A study published in Medical Oncology on 4 November 2026 argues that identifying specific T cell receptors within TILs in laryngeal cancer may offer new perspectives for overcoming these therapeutic challenges.

The research team, led by Wenhui Pang, Zhenglang Zhang and Enhao Kang with senior author Qing Liang, collected tumour tissues and peritumour tissues from patients with laryngeal cancer. They used immunohistochemistry to evaluate immune cell infiltration and immune repertoire sequencing (IR-Seq) to identify specific T cell receptors.

The immunohistochemistry results revealed that the counts of CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were considerably enhanced in the laryngeal cancer samples compared with the peritumour group. Moreover, the levels of these infiltrating immune cells showed a major positive correlation with serum concentrations of squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) in the laryngeal cancer patients. This is a correlation between infiltration levels and a measurable blood-borne marker, not evidence that one causes the other.

The sequencing work profiled the T cell receptor β chain, identifying specific TCRs within the infiltrating T cells. Comparing the two tissue types, the researchers observed differences in the usage of TRBV and TRBJ gene segments and in complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) amino acid motifs between laryngeal cancer and peritumour tissues. The study reports these differences in TRBV/J usage and CDR3 amino acid motifs between laryngeal cancer and peritumour tissues, and describes the specific TCR repertoires of TILs in laryngeal cancer patients as potential candidate repertoire signatures warranting further validation for diagnosis and treatment.

The authors are careful about scope. They describe their findings as delineating the specific TCR repertoires of TILs in laryngeal cancer patients and emphasise that these repertoires are potential candidate signatures warranting further validation for diagnosis and treatment. The study is observational and correlative; it documents associations between T cell infiltration, serum SCCA levels and receptor usage in the sampled tissues, and it does not establish that any particular receptor pattern predicts response to therapy or improves survival. The authors emphasise that these repertoires are candidate signatures warranting further validation for diagnosis and treatment.

Subject of Research: T cell receptor β repertoire differences between laryngeal cancer and peritumour tissues identified by immune repertoire sequencing

Article Title: The preference of T cell receptor β repertoire in laryngeal cancer

Article References: Pang, W., Zhang, Z., Kang, E., Guo, Y., Liang, D., Qin, Z., Qiu, J., Wang, H., Wang, K., & Liang, Q. (2026). The preference of T cell receptor β repertoire in laryngeal cancer. Medical Oncology, 43(12), Article 368. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-026-03473-6

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1007/s12032-026-03473-6

Keywords: laryngeal cancer, T cell receptor, TCR beta repertoire, tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes, immune repertoire sequencing, CDR3 motifs, TRBV gene segments, TRBJ gene segments, squamous cell carcinoma antigen, immunohistochemistry, head and neck cancer, TIL therapy