Association between severe treatment‐related lymphopenia and progression‐free survival in patients with newly diagnosed squamous cell head and neck cancer

Baseline total lymphocyte counts were normal, but at 2 months approximately 60% of patients had severe treatment-related lymphopenia regardless of HPV status. Severe treatment-related lymphopenia in HPV- patients is independently associated with earlier disease progression. Prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings, which suggest that immune preservation is important in this cancer.