Peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) responsiveness in patients with head and neck cancer in relation to tumour stage and prognosis.
We have previously shown an increased T lymphocyte and monocyte responsiveness in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) compared with PBMC from control patients. This study reports T lymphocyte function of PBMC of 81 patients with HNSCC dependent on disease stage and prognosis. Males with HNSCC under 80 years of age without cachexia, with no auto-immune disease or previous cancer and on no immuno-active medication were included at the time of diagnosis of disease. The follow-up was for at least 18 months. When cells from patients with early vs late stage disease according to the T, N or T + N stage of HNSCC were compared, decreased in vitro mitogen-stimulated and spontaneous T cell proliferation was seen with increasing tumour stage. When patients were studied according to disease-specific survival, a decreased T lymphocyte mitogen-stimulated proliferation was observed to be associated with a poorer prognosis. No changes in prognosis were noticed related to decreased gamma-IFN, IL-2 or IL-4 level of the supernatants of the T lymphocyte-stimulated PBMC in vitro cultures. With stratification for disease stage, we determined that PBMC in vitro T lymphocyte-stimulated proliferation predicted outcome for the HNSCC patients. The results were similar for both laryngeal and oral cavity/pharyngeal cancers. The present investigation provides evidence to support the idea that the relationship between HNSCC and the immune system of the host may provide clinically useful information about prognosis.
D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*