Fifteen patients with advanced H&N cancer who will receive chemoradiation therapy as first line treatment will be studied (as weight loss is expected). The cancer patients will be recruited at the UT Health Mays Cancer Center (MCC) in San Antonio with testing to be performed at the Barshop Institute. The cancer group will be compared to 15 control subjects, recruited at CTRAL (Center for Translational Research on Aging and Longevity) in College Station, who are age/sex/BMI matched and with no active or historic cancer diagnosis based on extensive medical screening.

This is a non-randomized biomarker study with the aim to evaluate the relationship between APOBEC3B (A3B) expression in primary head and neck cancers (HNC), anus, and cervix tumors and pathologic response to definitive chemoradiation therapy.