Absent or low expression of the ζ chain in T cells at the tumor site correlates with poor survival in patients with oral carcinoma

• Published in: Cancer research (Chicago, Ill.) Vol. 58; no. 23; pp. 5344 - 5347
• Main Authors: REICHERT, T. E, DAY, R, WAGNER, E. M, WHITESIDE, T. L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia, PA American Association for Cancer Research 01.12.1998
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - metabolism; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - pathology; CD3 Complex - biosynthesis; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating - immunology; Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating - metabolism; Male; Medical sciences; Membrane Proteins - biosynthesis; Middle Aged; Mouth Neoplasms - embryology; Mouth Neoplasms - pathology; Neoplasm Metastasis; Neoplasm Staging; Otorhinolaryngology (head neck, general aspects and miscellaneous); Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Prognosis; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell - biosynthesis; Retrospective Studies; T-Lymphocytes - immunology; T-Lymphocytes - metabolism; T-Lymphocytes - ultrastructure; Tumors; Human; Squamous cell carcinoma; Epsilon-Peptide chain; Prognosis; Stomatology; Gene product; Tumoral tissue; Tumoral marker; Malignant tumor; Gene expression; Survival; Oral cavity; T-Lymphocyte; Advanced stage; Oral cavity disease; Predictive factor
• ISSN: 0008-5472; 1538-7445

Immunohistology for expression of the CD3zeta and CD3epsilon chains in TIL was performed in 138 paraffin-embedded primary oral squamous cell carcinoma tissues and 10 nontumor, inflammatory lesions. Semiquantitative analysis of the staining intensity for zeta chain expression and number of zeta chain expression-positive cells distinguished tumors with absent or low zeta expression (42 of 132) from those with normal zeta expression (90 of 132). Zeta chain expression was inversely correlated with the tumor stage. Survival was significantly lower in patients whose TIL had absent or low zeta expression, controlling for stage (P = 0.003) and lymph node status (P = 0.0005). The prognostic value of zeta chain was restricted to patients with stage III or IV tumors (P = 0.003). The data indicate that absent or decreased zeta expression in TIL combined with tumor stage or nodal status defines a group of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma who have an extremely poor prognosis.