Low-dose aspirin confers a survival benefit in patients with pathological advanced-stage oral squamous cell carcinoma

Prevotella intermedia boosts OSCC progression through ISG15 upregulation: a new target for intervention

PURPOSE

Periodontitis-associated bacteria, such as Porphyromonas gingivalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum, are closely linked to the risk of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Emerging studies have indicated that another common periodontal pathogen, Prevotella intermedia (P. intermedia), is enriched in OSCC and could affect the occurrence and progression of OSCC. Our aim is to determine the effects of P. intermedia on the progression of OSCC and the role of antibiotics in reversing these effects.

METHODS

In this study, a murine xenograft model of OSCC was established, and the mice were injected intratumorally with PBS (control group), P. intermedia (P.i group), or P. intermedia combined with an antibiotic cocktail administration (P.i + ABX group), respectively. The effects of P. intermedia and ABX administration on xenograft tumor growth, invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis were investigated by tumor volume measurement and histopathological examination. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to investigate the changes in serum cytokine levels. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was adopted to analyze the alterations in the levels of inflammatory cytokines and infiltrated immune cells in OSCC tissues of xenograft tumors. Transcriptome sequencing and analysis were conducted to determine differential expression genes among various groups.

RESULTS

Compared with the control treatment, P. intermedia treatment significantly promoted tumor growth, invasion, angiogenesis, and metastasis, markedly affected the levels of inflammatory cytokines, and markedly altered M2 macrophages and regulatory T cells (Tregs) infiltration in the tumor microenvironment. However, ABX administration clearly abolished these effects of P. intermedia. Transcriptome and immunohistochemical analyses revealed that P. intermedia infection increased the expression of interferon-stimulated gene 15 (ISG15). Correlation analysis indicated that the expression level of ISG15 was positively correlated with the Ki67 expression level, microvessel density, serum concentrations and tissue expression levels of inflammatory cytokines, and quantities of infiltrated M2 macrophages and Tregs. However, it is negatively correlated with the quantities of infiltrated CD4+ and CD8+ T cells.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, intratumoral P. intermedia infection aggravated OSCC progression, which may be achieved through upregulation of ISG15. This study sheds new light on the possible pathogenic mechanism of intratumoral P. intermedia in OSCC progression, which could be a prospective target for OSCC prevention and treatment.

Injectable Thermoresponsive Hydrogels for Cancer Therapy: Challenges and Prospects

The enervating side effects of chemotherapeutic drugs have necessitated the use of targeted drug delivery in cancer therapy. To that end, thermoresponsive hydrogels have been employed to improve the accumulation and maintenance of drug release at the tumour site. Despite their efficiency, very few thermoresponsive hydrogel-based drugs have undergone clinical trials, and even fewer have received FDA approval for cancer treatment. This review discusses the challenges of designing thermoresponsive hydrogels for cancer treatment and offers suggestions for these challenges as available in the literature. Furthermore, the argument for drug accumulation is challenged by the revelation of structural and functional barriers in tumours that may not support targeted drug release from hydrogels. Other highlights involve the demanding preparation process of thermoresponsive hydrogels, which often involves poor drug loading and difficulties in controlling the lower critical solution temperature and gelation kinetics. Additionally, the shortcomings in the administration process of thermosensitive hydrogels are examined, and special insight into the injectable thermosensitive hydrogels that reached clinical trials for cancer treatment is provided.

Effect of glycated hemoglobin A1c on the survival of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma: A multi-institutional database cohort study

Objectives

Few studies have evaluated the impact of blood glucose levels on cancer prognosis. We investigated the association between hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and survival in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients.

Materials and Methods

A 19-year retrospective cohort study of OSCC patients was performed using the Chang Gung Research Database to identify and enroll 7279 patients diagnosed with OSCC between January 2001 and June 2020. A total of 3600 patients were recruited after performing 1:2 frequency-matching between patients with DM and non-DM. A Cox’s regression model was used to evaluate the relative hazards of all-cause mortality (ACM) and disease-specific mortality (DSM) in relation to HbA1c.

Results

An unadjusted Cox’s regression model indicated that DM, in addition to high levels of HbA1c, were statistically prognostic of poor survival. An adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of HbA1c ≥ 8% interval at the initial diagnosis of OSCC was statistically higher for DSM (1.25 to 2.24) compared to the non-DM group in different regression models. Considering the effect of sustained HbA1c control in 699 patients, the aHR of mean HbA1c ≥ 9% interval was statistically higher for ACM (1.78 to 2.13) compared to the reference group (7% ≤ HbA1c< 8%). In addition, increased hazards of ACM (2.09 to 2.18) and DSM (2.20 to 2.41) were consistently observed in the highest quartiles of average real variability of HbA1c.

Conclusion

Poor and unstable control of HbA1c could strongly predict the risks of mortality in OSCC patients with DM.

Gene Expression of the D-Series Resolvin Pathway Predicts Activation of Anti-Tumor Immunity and Clinical Outcomes in Head and Neck Cancer

In human medicine, the progression from early neoplasia development to either complete resolution of tumorigenesis and associated inflammation or chronicity and fatal outcomes remain difficult to predict. Resolution of inflammation is an active process that stimulates the termination of the inflammatory response and promotes return to homeostasis, while failure in resolution contributes to the development of a number of diseases. To understand how resolution pathways contribute to tumorigenesis, we defined and employed a cumulative score based on the expression level of genes involved in synthesis, signaling, and metabolism of the D-series resolvin (RvD). This score was used for comparative analyses of clinical, cellular, and molecular features of tumors, based on RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) datasets collected within The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program. Our results indicate that higher RvD scores are associated with better clinical outcome of patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC), and with molecular and cellular signatures indicative of enhanced anti-tumor immunity and better response to immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), also in human papilloma virus (HPV) negative HNSC subtypes. Thus, higher activity of the RvD pathway identifies patients with improved resolution and a more efficient immune reaction against cancer.