Expression of Major Histocompatibility Complex Antigens in Squamous Cell Carcinomas of the Head and Neck: Effects of Interferon Gene Transfer

The effect of retroviral‐mediated interferon‐γ (IFN‐γ) gene transfer on major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and II antigen expression was investigated in 13 head and neck squamous carcinoma cell lines. Six cell lines exhibited increased MHC class I expression, and 10 exhibited increased MHC class II expression after IFN‐γ gene transfer. Differences in MHC antigen expression between parental and transduced cell lines were significant ( P = 0.002) only for cell lines that upregulated MHC class II expression. After incubation in medium containing 100 U/mL recombinant IFN‐γ, or in medium from IFN‐γ retrovirus‐transduced NIH 3T3 cells, 12 cell lines significantly upregulated MHC class I expression, and 9 significantly upregulated MHC class II expression. Only cell lines that exhibited increased MHC class II expression after retroviral transduction also upregulated class II expression with exogenous IFN‐γ treatment. Thus some head and neck squamous carcinoma cell lines can upregulate MHC class I and II expression after exogenous application of either IFN‐γ or IFN‐γ retro‐viral transduction. These are promising findings for head and neck cancer immunotherapy and gene therapy.