title: Galectin-1 is associated with poor prognosis in patients with cutaneous head and neck cancer with perineural spread.
abstract: Spread of head and neck cancer along the cranial nerves is often a lethal complication of this tumour. Current treatment options include surgical resection and/or radiotherapy, but recurrence is a frequent event suggesting that our understanding of this tumour and its microenvironment is incomplete. In this study, we have analysed the nature of the perineural tumour microenvironment by immunohistochemistry with particular focus on immune cells and molecules, which might impair anti-tumour immunity. Moderate to marked lymphocyte infiltrates were present in 58.8% of the patient cohort including T cells, B cells and FoxP3-expressing T cells. While human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I and more variably HLA class II were expressed on the tumour cells, this did not associate with patient survival or recurrence. In contrast, galectin-1 staining within lymphocyte areas of the tumour was significantly associated with a poorer patient outcome. Given the known role of galectin-1 in immune suppression, the data suggest that galectin inhibitors might improve the prognosis of patients with perineural spread of cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Princess Alexandra Hospital, 237 Ipswich Road, Woolloongabba, Brisbane, QLD, 4102, Australia.
authors.forename: Sharad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chawla
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Princess Alexandra Hospital, 237 Ipswich Road, Woolloongabba, Brisbane, QLD, 4102, Australia.|QIMR Berghofer Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.|The University of Queensland School of Medicine, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Timothy A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Warren
authors.affiliation: QIMR Berghofer Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Leesa F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Wockner
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.|IQ Pathology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Duncan L J
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Lambie
authors.affiliation: Envoi Pathology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Ian S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Princess Alexandra Hospital, 237 Ipswich Road, Woolloongabba, Brisbane, QLD, 4102, Australia.
authors.forename: Thomas P C
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.affiliation: QIMR Berghofer Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Rajiv
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Khanna
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
authors.forename: Graham R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Leggatt
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Princess Alexandra Hospital, 237 Ipswich Road, Woolloongabba, Brisbane, QLD, 4102, Australia. ben@panizza.com.au.|The University of Queensland School of Medicine, Brisbane, QLD, Australia. ben@panizza.com.au.
authors.forename: Benedict J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Panizza
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003391:Cranial Nerves / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D037483:Galectin 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000378:metabolism; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D011379:Prognosis; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D059016:Tumor Microenvironment
chemical_list: D037483:Galectin 1; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II
keywords: Galectin-1; Immunohistochemistry; Lymphocytes; Perineural spread; Perineural tumour microenvironment