Spiotto Laboratory

We research the cellular and genetic factors driving head and neck carcinogenesis, metastasis and immune escape.

Our goals focus on the molecular pathways mediating head and neck carcinogenesis and metastasis. We have developed novel mouse models to induce Human Papillomavirus (HPV) oral tumors from normal epithelium, which provides a unique approach to study how viral oncogenes disrupt epithelial differentiation to initiate tumor growth. To better understand head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) metastasis, we have used transcriptional and genomic profiling to identify novel prognostic subtypes of lymph node metastasis (LNMs). Finally, to better improve the therapy of cancer, we have developed a novel tumor models employing novel radiotherapy approaches with immunotherapy to enhance anti-tumor immune responses against HPV cancers and cancers in general.