Borderline Microenvironment Fibrosis Is a Novel Poor Prognostic Marker of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
Anticancer Res 2020;
40:4319-4326. [PMID:
32727759 DOI:
10.21873/anticanres.14434]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2020] [Revised: 06/23/2020] [Accepted: 06/24/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM
The tumor microenvironment (TME) balances tumor growth and suppression through humoral factors and cell-cell interactions. In oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), TMEs have been associated with prognosis of cancer patients and are evaluated by microscopy; however, these methods of evaluation vary among studies.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
To evaluate the TME, borderline microenvironment fibrosis (bMF) was evaluated histologically in 236 OSCC cases and used to determine the clinicopathological status.
RESULTS
bMF was observed in 47% (110 in 236 cases) of OSCC cases and associated with higher T category, N category, stage, histological grade and mode of invasion. bMF-positive was related to overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Multivariate analysis revealed that bMF-positive was an independent factor for OS in all cases [n=226; HR=1.683 (1.018-2.781); p=0.042], especially in T1+T2 cases [n=186; HR=1.926 (1.079-3.440); p=0.024], and PFS in all cases [n=226; HR=2.254 (1.397-3.637); p=0.001].
CONCLUSION
bMF may act as a novel biomarker for OSCC.
Collapse