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Detailed analysis of inflammatory cell infiltration and the prognostic impact on nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Author(s) -
Lu Juan,
Chen XiaoMei,
Huang HaoRan,
Zhao FeiPeng,
Wang Fan,
Liu Xiong,
Li XiangPing
Publication year - 2018
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.25104
Subject(s) - nasopharyngeal carcinoma , foxp3 , cd8 , cd20 , cytotoxic t cell , medicine , tumor infiltrating lymphocytes , immune system , cd3 , infiltration (hvac) , immunology , cancer research , pathology , immunohistochemistry , biology , radiation therapy , biochemistry , physics , thermodynamics , in vitro
Background One of the most striking characteristics of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is the presence of a very abundant immune cells infiltrate containing mainly T‐lymphocytes. The purpose of this study was to present our analysis providing a comprehensive characterization of antitumor inflammatory response in NPC. Methods The densities of 9 types of inflammatory cells were assessed in 197 patients with NPC, including CD3 + T‐lymphocytes, CD8 + cytotoxic T‐lymphocytes, CD20 + B‐lymphocytes, CD56 + natural killer (NK) cells, FOXP3 + regulatory T‐lymphocytes, CD1a + immature dendritic cells, CD83 + mature dendritic cells, neutrophil elastase + neutrophils, and tryptase + mast cells. We characterized the inflammatory infiltrate in relation to clinical stage and patient survival. The expression of programmed death‐1 (PD‐1) on tumor‐infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) was also detected. The correlations between PD‐1 expression and clinical characteristics and posttreatment outcome were analyzed. Results The patients with NPC with a low density of tumor‐infiltrating FOXP3+, CD8 + T‐lymphocytes, neutrophils, and mast cells showed a significantly longer overall survival (OS) and progression‐free survival (PFS). However, patients with a high density of NK cells showed a better OS and PFS. The densities of NK cells and mast cells could be served as biomarkers for predicting recurrence or distant metastasis in patients with NPC. Moreover, PD‐1 positivity predicted poor prognosis in patients with NPC. Conclusion The densities of inflammatory cells are correlated with the prognosis of patients with NPC.