High density of intratumor CD45RO+ memory tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes predicts favorable prognosis in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma

Publication date: Available online 11 October 2018

Source: Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Author(s): Chen Zhou, Jin Li, Yaping Wu, Pengfei Diao, Jianrong Yang, Jie Cheng

Abstract

Purpose

While tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) have been increasingly appreciated as novel biomarkers for prognostic prediction in cancer, little attention has been paid to the CD45RO⁺ memory TILs and its associations with clinical outcomes in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The purpose of this study was to determine the associations between CD45RO⁺ TILs and clinicopathological parameters and prognosis in OSCC.

Methods

Tissue sections of primary OSCC from two independent tertiary referral cancer centers (Nanjing and Wuxi) were retrospectively collected and subjected to immunohistochemical staining for CD45RO. The densities of CD45RO⁺ TILs in the tumor center (CT) and invasive margin (IM) were calculated. The optimal cutoff values of CD45RO⁺ TILs for patients' stratification were generated by X-tile software. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analyses were performed to assess the associations between CD45RO⁺ TILs and overall survival as well as recurrence-free survival. Prognostic prediction of CD45RO⁺ TILs was estimated by receiver operating characteristic curve.

Results

A total number of 169 eligible OSCC patients were included. No significant associations between CD45RO⁺ TIL and clinicopathological parameters were identified. Kaplan-Meier analyses indicated that high density of CD45RO CT was significantly associated with favorable overall and recurrence-free survival (P=0.0018, 0.0007, Log-rank test). Cox proportional regression analyses revealed that CD45RO CT was an independent prognostic factor for OSCC overall survival. ROC curves revealed that CD45RO CT was comparable to clinical stage in predicting patient survival, while their combination was superior to either individual parameter.

Conclusions

Our findings indicate that intratumor density of CD45RO TILs is a viable and independent prognostic predictor for OSCC.

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