Higher expression of PD-L1, PD-L2, and INF-γ in pre-treatment samples were associated with tumor response after one dose of Pembrolizumab (Welch’s t-test, p = 0.015, 0.021, 0.006)....Inflamed tumor microenvironment, evidenced by increased INF-γ irrespective of lymphocyte infiltration is associated with pathological response after a single dose of Pembrolizumab in HNSCC....INF-γ induced genes including CXCL9, OASL, IFI35, and IDO1 showed higher expression in responders...