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Tumor infiltrating lymphocytes and survival in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Author(s) -
Nguyen Nghia,
Bellile Emily,
Thomas Daffyd,
McHugh Jonathan,
Rozek Laura,
Virani Shama,
Peterson Lisa,
Carey Thomas E.,
Walline Heather,
Moyer Jeffery,
Spector Matthew,
Perim Daniel,
Prince Mark,
McLean Scott,
Bradford Carol R.,
Taylor Jeremy M. G.,
Wolf Gregory T.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.24406
Subject(s) - head and neck squamous cell carcinoma , hazard ratio , cd8 , medicine , foxp3 , tumor infiltrating lymphocytes , oncology , tumor microenvironment , cd68 , tissue microarray , immune system , proportional hazards model , confidence interval , cancer research , head and neck cancer , immunohistochemistry , immunology , cancer
Abstract Background Because immune responses within the tumor microenvironment are important predictors of tumor biology, correlations of types of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) with clinical outcomes were determined in 278 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Methods Infiltrating levels of CD4 (helper T cells), CD8 (cytotoxic/suppressor T cells), FoxP3 (regulatory T cells), CD68 (myeloid‐derived suppressor cells,) and CD1a (Langerhans) cells were measured in tissue microarrays (TMAs). Cox models tested associations with patient outcomes after adjusting for all known prognostic factors. Median follow‐up was 36.6 months. Results Higher CD4 and CD8 TIL levels were associated with improved overall survival (OS; hazard ratio [HR] = 0.77; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.65–0.93; p = .005 and HR = 0.77; 95% CI = 0.64–0.94; p = .008, respectively), and relapse‐free survival (RFS; p = .03 and .05, respectively). After controlling for prognostic factors, higher CD4 levels predicted improved OS and disease‐specific survival (DSS; p = .003 and p = .004, respectively). Conclusion The findings suggest that TILs are a significant independent prognostic factor for HNSCC that differ by treatment. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: 1074–1084, 2016