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Head and neck cell squamous-cell carcinomas (HNSCC) are a group of common cancers typically associated with tobacco use and human papilloma virus infection. Up to half of all cases will suffer a recurrence after primary treatment. As such, new therapies are needed, including therapies which promote the anti-tumor immune response. Prior work has characterized changes in the mutation burden between primary and recurrent tumors; however, little work has characterized the changes in neoantigen evolution. We characterized genomic and neoantigen changes between 23 paired primary and recurrent HNSCC tumors. Twenty-three biopsies from patients originally diagnosed with locally advanced disease were identified from the Washington University tumor bank. Whole exosome sequencing, RNA-seq, and immunohistochemistry was performed on the primary and recurrent tumors. Within these tumors, we identified 6 genes which have predicted neoantigens in 4 or more patients. Interestingly, patients with neoantigens in these shared genes had increased CD3+ CD8+ T cell infiltration and duration of survival with disease. Within HNSCC tumors examined here, there are neoantigens in shared genes by a subset of patients. The presence of neoantigens in these shared genes may promote an anti-tumor immune response which controls tumor progression., Competing Interests: CONFLICTS OF INTEREST Charles Schutt: No disclosures, Hua Sun: No disclosures, Jaya Sarin: No disclosures, Dr. Adkins: Consulting or scientific advisory board support from Pfizer, Merck, Eli Lilly, Celgene (now BMS), Cue Biopharma. Institutional research support from Pfizer Eli Lilly, Merck, Celgene/BMS, Novartis, AstraZeneca, Atara Bio, Blueprint Medicine, Celldex, Enzychem, Kura, Exelixis, Innate, Sensei, and Matrix Biomed. Yvonne Saenger: Research funding from Amgen and Regeneron. Equity on a biomarker startup, Wasaba. Jessica Ley: No disclosures. Matthew Ingham: Consulting or Advisory role: Daiichi Sanky; Research Funding: Mirati Therapeutics, Apexigen, PTC Therapeutics; Travel, Accommodations, Expenses: Genetech, Mirati Therapeutics. Li Ding: No disclosures. Brian Van Tine: Grants from Merck, grants and personal fees from Pfizer, grants from Tracon, grants, personal fees and other from GSK, personal fees from Polaris, personal fees from Lilly, personal fees from Caris Life Sciences, personal fees from Novartis, personal fees from CytRX, personal fees from Plexxikon, personal fees from Epizyme, personal fees from Daiihi Sankyo, personal fees from Adaptimmune, personal fees from Immune Design, personal fees from Bayer, personal fees from Cytokinetics, personal fees from Deciphera. In addition, Dr. Van Tine has a patent on the use of ME1 as biomarker and ALEXT3102 issued., (Copyright: © 2021 Schutt et al.)

A correction was made to a sentence in the original article to provide additional clarification in the "Other Oncolytic Viruses" section.

Purpose of Review: Oncolytic virotherapy is a new approach to the treatment of cancer and its success in the treatment of melanoma represents a breakthrough in cancer therapeutics. This paper provides a review of the current literature on the use of oncolytic viruses (OVs) in the treatment of melanoma., Recent Findings: Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) is the first OV approved for the treatment of melanoma and presents new challenges as it enters the clinical setting. Several other OVs are at various stages of clinical and pre-clinical development for the treatment of melanoma. Reports from phase Ib-III clinical trials combining T-VEC with checkpoint blockade are encouraging and demonstrate potential added benefit of combination immunotherapy. OVs have recently emerged as a standard treatment option for patients with advanced melanoma. Several OVs and therapeutic combinations are in development. Immunooncolytic virotherapy combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors is promising for the treatment of advanced melanoma.