Tumour-associated tissue eosinophilia in head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma.

The possible role of tumour-associated tissue eosinophilia (TATE) as a prognostic factor in epithelial tumours has been investigated before. TATE is supposed to be associated with good prognosis. In this study concerning 63 patients with laryngeal and/or pharyngeal squamous-cell carcinoma, we tried to verify this hypothesis. Of the 25 patients with TATE, 17 (68%) had a good outcome opposed to 8 (32%) with a poor outcome. This numerically better chance for a good outcome in case of TATE was however not statistically significant. Uniformity of research material, staining and classification of TATE together with more representative and larger series of patients should ascertain the real value of TATE as a valid prognostic factor in head and neck squamous-cell carcinoma.