This study applies whole-exome sequencing (WES) to characterize genomic alterations in HPV-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Tumors were analyzed to derive pathway-level alteration scores, enabling stratification into Hedgehog-high and Hedgehog-low groups. The genomic data were integrated with imaging, transcriptomic, and functional analyses to investigate tumor-intrinsic Hedgehog signaling. The study aims to identify molecular features associated with biologically distinct tumor subgroups.
