U. S. researchers have said that by studying the immune cells of patients with head and neck cancer, physicians can choose a more individualized treatment.

Levels of an immune cell are higher in head and neck cancer patients whose tumors are linked to the human papillomavirus, study author Dr. Gregory T. Wolf of the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, says.

Wolf says in a statement, "In the past, we would give toxic chemotherapy to a patient, look at how the tumor responded and then decide whether the patient needed surgery or radiation. This study suggests we can look in the microscope, measure the level of these immune cells and, based on that, select a treatment that is going to be potentially less toxic for the patient and most effective at curing the cancer."

It was further reported that the study involved 66 patients with oropharyngeal cancer -- cancers of the tonsils and the tongue base.

Those patients who were HPV-positive had higher levels of a subset of T-lymphocyte cells -- a type of immune cell that is responsible for killing tumor cells.

Wolf said, "When we looked at how successful chemotherapy and radiation were, the levels of those killer T-lymphocyte cells predicted who was going to do well. That ability to predict response was even better than when we look at whether the tumors were HPV-positive or negative." (With Inputs from Agencies)