title: Inflammatory cell infiltration and survival in squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva.
abstract: The prognostic significance of tumour infiltration by inflammatory cells in squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva was examined in a cohort of 34 patients surviving without recurrence for at least 5 years after radical surgery, and a comparative cohort of 35 patients who died of their diseases. Overall, heavy inflammatory infiltration correlated with a good prognosis and light infiltration with a poor one, independent of other indices such as differentiation, tumour size and nodal status. IgA-containing cell infiltration also correlated with a good prognosis but the presence of IgA-containing cells did not alone account for all the inflammation in the good prognosis group. An immunological response to the tumour may be influencing prognosis. At a practical level, the extent of inflammation appears, at least in this material, to be as useful a prognostic index as many more conventional ones.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014846:Vulvar Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D014847:Vulvitis / Q000473:pathology*