Bioinformatics and immunohistochemistry analyses of expression levels and clinical significance of CXCL2 and TANs in an oral squamous cell carcinoma tumor microenvironment of infection.

The present study aimed to detect the immunoexpression and clinical significance of () in the tumor microenvironment (TME) of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The immunoexpression of in OSCC tissues was detected via immunohistochemistry (IHC) after was infected into the TME of OSCC. To identify the differentially expressed genes in the carcinogenesis and progression of OSCC with infection, microarray datasets (GSE87539 and GSE138206) were downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. The immunoexpression levels of C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CXCL2) and tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs) were also evaluated via IHC, and the immunoexpression levels of all three clinical variables were analyzed using χ or Fisher's exact tests. The survival rates were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and the survival curves were compared using log-rank tests. Predominantly strong immunoexpression of was identified in OSCC samples. CXCL2 was considered to be a differential gene in the two datasets. Immunoexpression of was positively associated with CXCL2 and TANs expression. Furthermore, was associated with survival status (P<0.001) and differentiation (P<0.001). CXCL2 was associated with age (P=0.038) and survival status (P=0.003), while TANs were associated with T stage (P=0.015) and clinical stage (P=0.002). These clinical variables were considered to be independent risk factors for the poor prognosis of patients with OSCC. Collectively, the results suggested that the immunoexpression of may be positively associated with CXCL2 and TANs. In addition, the strong immunoexpression levels of , CXCL2 and TANs may be associated with a poor prognosis in patients with OSCC.