人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）阳性的头颈部肿瘤患者放疗预后优于阴性者，但同是HPV DNA阳性者，预后也有差异。HPV E6/E7癌基因表达是HPV发挥作用的基础，其mRNA检测较之DNA检测，可更准确地判断HPV是否已整合到宿主基因并发挥生物学作用，从而更精确地预测HPV阳性个体放疗敏感性。由于HPV E6/E7 mRNA可调控射线敏感性相关microRNA（miRNA）的表达，我们进一步科学假设，HPV E6/E7癌蛋白通过调控靶miRNA，增强宿主肿瘤细胞对射线的敏感性，从而使个体获得较好预后。本课题拟基于医院采用分子流行病学研究方法，检测HPV DNA阳性头颈部肿瘤组织中HPV E6/E7 mRNA和宿主miRNA的表达情况，构建包括HPV E6/E7 mRNA和miRNA共表达的模型，预测头颈部肿瘤放疗预后，并对其生物学机制进行初步探索。研究将为头颈部肿瘤治疗个体化方案制定提供科学依据。

Head and neck cancer patients with human papillomavirus (HPV) positive have a better prognosis after radiotherapy than those HPV negative. Still, the prognosis varies among those HPV positive patients. As we know, HPV plays its biological role through the expression of HPV E6/E7 gene. Moreover, we can better determine whether HPV DNA has been integrated into the host genome to play the role by detecting HPV E6/E7 mRNA, comparing with HPV E6/E7 DNA, thus to predict the sensitivity of those HPV positive patients for radiation therapy more accurately. HPV E6/E7 mRNA can regulate the expression of certain radiation sensitive microRNA (miRNA). We further assume that, HPV E6/E7 oncoproteins can enhance the radiosensitivity of tumor cells by regulating targeted miRNA, therefore patients can obtain better prognosis. This application is a hospital-based project using the molecular epidemiology method. Expression of both HPV E6/E7 mRNA and host miRNA from HPV DNA-positive tumor tissue will be detected, and a related co-expression model will be built to predict the prognosis of head and neck cancer patients after radiotherapy, and preliminary exploration of its biological mechanism will also be conducted. This study will provide a scientific evidence for developing individualized treatment regimen of head and neck cancer patients.