Lymphocytes subtypes expression and prognosis of squamous cell carcinoma of the lower lip
aDepartment of Systematic Pathology -Section of Dermatology, bDepartment of Biomorphologic and Functional Sciences, Section of Pathology; University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy
AIM: Lip squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lip is a relatively common malignancy of the head and neck region. Tumor thickness, grading and perineural invasion are significant prognostic indicators. However, there is still the need of new reliable biological markers able to predict the prognosis of the single cases with an unfavourable biological behaviour unpredictable by the classic clinical-pathological parameters. METHODS: 32 cases of (SCC) of the lower lip were analysed for their clinicopathologic features, and immunohistochemical expression of Fas/Fas L in neoplastic cells and in inflammatory infiltrate. Moreover the density and phenotype of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) was analysed. The results were related with the follow-up of the patients ranging from 2 to 5 years. RESULTS: The cases with overexpression of Fas/L in neoplastic cells and Fas+ in T cells preferentially showed a more aggressive clinical behaviour (P<0.01). Moreover we found an alteration of the normal expression of CD4 and CD8 lymphocyte types in for cases. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that the Fas/FasL pathway is involved in the close relation between neoplastic cells and T cells and so in the biological behaviour of these tumors.
Paper presented at the International Symposium on Predictive Oncology and Intervention Strategies; Nice, France; February 7 - 10, 2004; in poster session 893 (Molecular pathology).