Functionally impactful TP53 mutations are associated with increased risk of extranodal extension in clinically advanced oral squamous cell carcinoma

A circadian rhythm-related lncRNA signature correlates with prognosis and tumor immune microenvironment in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

OBJECTIVE

To investigate circadian rhythm-associated long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) signatures in predicting prognosis, metabolism, and immune infiltration in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSC).

METHODS

HNSC samples were collected from the TCGA database. A signature was constructed using Cox regression and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) methods. The immune cell infiltration was analyzed using CIBERSORT, ssGSEA, and MCPcounter. The RT-qPCR was used to detect the expression of signature lncRNAs.

RESULTS

A signature comprising 8 lncRNAs was constructed. The constructed signature demonstrated good prognostic prediction capability for HNSC. A nomogram encompassing risk score accurately predicted the long-term OS probability of HNSC. The infiltration levels of T cell, B cell and Macrophages were significantly higher in the high-risk group than in the low-risk group. Cluster analysis showed that the signature lncRNAs could classify the HNSC samples into two clusters. The RT-qPCR suggested that the expression of lncRNAs in signature was consistent with the data in TCGA.

CONCLUSION

The circadian rhythm-associated lncRNA signature has potential as a prognostic indicator for HNSC. It exhibits associations with metabolism, immune microenvironment, and drug sensitivity, thereby providing valuable insights for informing the treatment of HNSC.

Mutant p53 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma: Molecular mechanism of gain‑of‑function and targeting therapy (Review)

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most widespread malignancies worldwide. p53, as a transcription factor, can play its role in tumor suppression by activating the expression of numerous target genes. However, p53 is one of the most commonly mutated genes, which frequently harbors missense mutations. These missense mutations are nucleotide substitutions that result in the substitution of an amino acid in the DNA binding domain. Most p53 mutations in HNSCC are missense mutations and the mutation rate of p53 reaches 65‑85%. p53 mutation not only inhibits the tumor suppressive function of p53 but also provides novel functions to facilitate tumor recurrence, called gain‑of‑function (GOF). The present study focused on the prevalence and clinical relevance of p53 mutations in HNSCC, and further described how mutant p53 accumulates. Moreover, mutant p53 in HNSCC can interact with proteins, RNA, and exosomes to exert effects on proliferation, migration, invasion, immunosuppression, and metabolism. Finally, several treatment strategies have been proposed to abolish the tumor‑promoting function of mutant p53; these strategies include reactivation of mutant p53 into wild‑type p53, induction of mutant p53 degradation, enhancement of the synthetic lethality of mutant p53, and treatment with immunotherapy. Due to the high frequency of p53 mutations in HNSCC, a further understanding of the mechanism of mutant p53 may provide potential applications for targeted therapy in patients with HNSCC.

Mutation patterns and evolutionary action score of TP53 enable identification of a patient population with poor prognosis in advanced non‐small cell lung cancer

BACKGROUND

TP53 mutations are frequent in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Different categories of TP53 mutations may be associated with survival in advanced NSCLC, but their effect on prognosis is diverse. To date, a comprehensive comparison of the relationship between different classes of TP53 alterations and survival in advanced NSCLC has rarely been performed. Moreover, the prognostic significance of a novel approach called the evolutionary action of TP53 (EAp53) in advanced NSCLC is unclear.

METHODS

A total of 210 patients with NSCLC harboring TP53 mutation data were enrolled. Genomic and clinical data for the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) cohort with advanced NSCLC were obtained from cBioPortal. Relationship between clinical characteristics and TP53 mutations was performed by Fisher's exact test or χ² test. Overall survival (OS) analysis was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazards regression model.

RESULTS

TP53 mutations were identified in 51.4% of NSCLC patients and were mainly located in exons 5, 7, and 8. The distribution patterns of missense and truncating mutations of TP53 were remarkably different. Among patients with advanced NSCLC who never received immune checkpoint inhibitor treatments, EAp53 high-risk mutations were significantly associated with poor OS in both our cohort and the MSKCC cohort. Moreover, marked differences were observed in the mutational landscape between patients with EAp53 high-risk mutations (HR group) and other patients (OT group). The HR group displayed higher mutation frequencies in the RTK, cell cycle, and DNA damage repair (DDR) pathways than the OT group. In addition, the tumor mutation burden in the HR group was significantly higher than that in the OT group.

CONCLUSIONS

This study provided important insights into the molecular-clinical profile of TP53-mutated NSCLC patients. Moreover, the data revealed that EAp53 high-risk mutations were an independent prognostic factor for worse OS in advanced NSCLC.

Novel pathological predictive factors for extranodal extension in oral squamous cell carcinoma: a retrospective cohort study based on tumor budding, desmoplastic reaction, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, and depth of invasion

Background

Extranodal extension (ENE) is a poor prognostic factor for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Identifying ENE by clinical and/or radiological examination is difficult, thereby leading to unnecessary neck dissections. Currently, no definitive predictors are available for ENE. Thus, we aimed to determine the histological predictors of ENE by routine histopathological examination using biopsy and surgically resected specimens.

Methods

This retrospective study included 186 surgically resected OSCC and 83 matched biopsy specimens. Clinical features associated with the tumor microenvironment, including desmoplastic reaction (DR), tumor budding (TB), and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), were evaluated using hematoxylin and eosin-stained primary OSCC and neck dissection specimens. These histological features were divided into two groups: DR-immature (DR-I) and DR-mature (DR-M); TB-high (TB-H) and TB-low (TB-L); and TILs-low (TILs-L) and TILs-high (TILs-H). Clinical depth of invasion (cDOI) and pathological DOI (pDOI) were adapted for biopsies and resections, respectively; DOI was evaluated as DOI > 10 mm and DOI ≤ 10 mm. The clinicopathological relationships between these histopathological features and ENE and the independent risk factors for ENE were analyzed. The histological predictors of ENE were evaluated.

Results

The histological status of DR, TILs, and TB present in biopsy and resection specimens showed high accuracy with that of ENE. DR-I, TILs-L, and TB-H were significantly associated with lymph node metastasis, cDOI, and pDOI. Bivariate and multivariate analyses revealed that TB-H and pDOI > 10 mm in resections were independent factors for the presence of ENE (ENE +). The combination of TB-H/pDOI > 10 mm in resection specimens showed high specificity (91%) and accuracy (83%) regarding ENE + . Although there proved to be no independent factors in biopsies, DR-I and TILs-L were significantly associated with ENE + (p < 0.001). The combination of DR-I/TILs-L/cDOI > 10 mm in biopsies exhibited high sensitivity and specificity with ENE + (70% and 77%, respectively, p < 0.001). These histological predictors could detect even minor ENE (< 2 mm).

Conclusions

The tumor microenvironment status in primary OSCC was significantly associated with that of ENE, and TB-H was an independent risk factor for ENE. The histological status of DR-I/TILs-L/cDOI > 10 mm in biopsy specimens and TB-H/pDOI > 10 mm in resection specimens is a useful predictor of ENE.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12885-022-09393-8.

Incidence and prognostic significance of extranodal extension in isolated nodal recurrence of oral squamous cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Extranodal extension (ENE) is a crucial prognostic factor of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). However, the role of ENE in regional recurrence (rENE) remains unclear. The purpose of our study is to assess the salvage outcome according to the presence of rENE in oral cancer patients with isolated nodal recurrence.

METHODS

Oral cancer patients diagnosed with isolated nodal recurrence at the National Taiwan University Hospital between January 2010 and December 2015 were reviewed. All patients were classified into two groups: with and without rENE. The treatment included salvage neck dissection (ND) ± metronomic chemotherapy, salvage ND and radiation (RT)/concurrent chemoradiation (CCRT), Salvage RT/CCRT alone, metronomic chemotherapy, or supportive care.

RESULTS

We analyzed 198 patients, 156 with rENE and 42 without rENE. rENE presented more frequently in patients with initial ENE+ (OR = 3.17, p = 0.04), prior RT+ (OR = 2.96, p = 0.02), initial N2/N3 (OR = 2.76, p = 0.01), and recurrent LN size >1.5 cm (OR = 2.33, p = 0.03). The extent of rENE were also significantly different in these patients. The 2-year disease-free survival for patients with and without rENE were 15.7% and 31.7%, respectively (p = 0.002). The 2-year overall survival for patients with and without rENE were 19.6% and 43.9%, respectively (p = 0.004). For patients without rENE, those received salvage ND had better survival outcome (p < 0.001). By contrast, for patients with rENE, those received salvage RT/CCRT had better survival outcome (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The rENE is frequently present (78.79%) in OSCC patients with isolated nodal recurrence. Individualized treatment modalities based on the presence of rENE should be recommended to achieve better salvage outcomes.