Department of Biological Sciences, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UK.
Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2013 May;62(5):863-73. doi: 10.1007/s00262-013-1395-9. Epub 2013 Jan 29.
The nature of the tumour microenvironment immune response in head and neck cancer patients has an important role in tumour development and metastasis, but it is unknown if this differs between cancer subsites or whether it is related to the peripheral immune response.
Immune cells (CD4, CD8, Foxp3) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma tissue (HNSCC; n = 66), detected by immunohistochemistry, have been correlated with tumour subsite and immune cells in the peripheral circulation (CD4(+)CD25(High)Foxp3(+) Treg and CD4(+) T cells), identified using flow cytometry.
Oropharyngeal tumours had a greater number of infiltrating immune cells in both tumour and stroma compared with other subsites, but no difference was observed in the circulating levels. Immune cells in the stroma were positively related to those in the tumour with consistently higher levels in stroma. A strong relationship was found between the number of CD4(+) and Foxp3(+) cells but not between the number of CD8(+) and Foxp3(+) cells in the tumour. The number of Foxp3(+) cells within the tumour was positively correlated with the percentage of circulating CD4(+)CD25(High) cells positive for Foxp3. Late stage laryngeal tumours showed a higher number of Foxp3(+) lymphocytes compared with early stage malignancies, and oropharyngeal tumours had more CD4(+) cells in node negative tumours compared with node positive ones.
The level of immune cell infiltration in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma appears to be subsite dependent residing primarily in the stroma and is likely to be dependent on the peripheral immune response.
头颈部癌症患者肿瘤微环境免疫反应的性质对头颈部癌症患者肿瘤的发展和转移起着重要作用，但尚不清楚这种反应是否因癌症部位不同而有所差异，或者是否与外周免疫反应有关。
采用免疫组织化学方法检测头颈部鳞状细胞癌组织（HNSCC；n=66）中的免疫细胞（CD4、CD8、Foxp3），并与外周循环中的肿瘤亚部位和免疫细胞（CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Treg 和 CD4+T 细胞）进行相关性分析，采用流式细胞术进行鉴定。
与其他部位相比，口咽肿瘤的肿瘤和基质中浸润的免疫细胞数量更多，但循环水平没有差异。基质中的免疫细胞与肿瘤中的免疫细胞呈正相关，且基质中的免疫细胞水平始终更高。肿瘤中 CD4+和 Foxp3+细胞的数量之间存在很强的相关性，但 CD8+和 Foxp3+细胞的数量之间不存在相关性。肿瘤内 Foxp3+细胞的数量与循环中 Foxp3 阳性的 CD4+CD25+细胞的百分比呈正相关。晚期喉癌肿瘤中的 Foxp3+淋巴细胞数量明显高于早期恶性肿瘤，且无淋巴结转移的口咽肿瘤中的 CD4+细胞数量多于有淋巴结转移的肿瘤。
头颈部鳞状细胞癌浸润免疫细胞的水平似乎与肿瘤部位有关，主要位于基质中，可能依赖于外周免疫反应。
