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Prognostic value of tertiary lymphoid structures in early clinical stage oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma
Author(s) -
Wang Cheng,
Huang Zhengxian,
Zhang Ming,
Xiong Gan,
Chen Xiaohua,
Xie Nan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of oral pathology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.887
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1600-0714
pISSN - 0904-2512
DOI - 10.1111/jop.13215
Subject(s) - medicine , oncology , proportional hazards model , survival analysis , stage (stratigraphy) , pathology , biology , paleontology
Background Tertiary lymphoid structures have been observed in several solid tumors and suggested to be a favorable prognostic factor. However, the prognostic value of tertiary lymphoid structures for early clinical stage (cT1/2N0) oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (OTSCC) remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the prognostic value of tertiary lymphoid structures in cT1/2N0 stage OTSCC. Methods Ninety‐seven patients with cT1/2N0 stage OTSCC were enrolled in this study. Tertiary lymphoid structures were assessed in paraffin sections with H.E and immunohistochemistry staining. Overall and disease‐free survivals were evaluated by the Kaplan‐Meier method. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to assess their prognostic value. Results Tertiary lymphoid structures can be readily identified in cT1/2N0 stage OTSCC, including early tertiary lymphoid structures, primary follicle‐like tertiary lymphoid structures, and secondary follicle‐like tertiary lymphoid structures. Its frequency in OTSCC was 76.3% in the cohort. The presence of tertiary lymphoid structures was associated with favorable overall survival ( p = 0.0176) and disease‐free survival ( p = 0.0183) in early clinical stage OTSCC. Cox regression models showed that tertiary lymphoid structures can serve as an independent prognostic factor for overall survival (HR = 0.434, 95% CI = 0.212–0.886, p = 0.022) and disease‐free survival (HR = 0.459, 95% CI = 0.235–0.897, p = 0.023) in early clinical stage OTSCC. The group of low maturity of TLS combined with pN positive had the lowest overall survival ( p = 0.0094) and disease‐free survival ( p = 0.0028). Conclusions Tertiary lymphoid structures are frequently observed in OTSCC. It is associated with a favorable prognosis for patients with cT1/2N0 stage OTSCC and may be used to predict immunotherapy sensitivity.