Publication Date:
2015-03-31
Description:
Aims Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonists has been applied into cancer immunotherapy, but the heterogeneity of tumor renders TLR7 behaves versatile in tumor microenvironment and the characteristic of TLR7 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is unclear. Methods and results 20 healthy oral tissues, 50 oral leukoplakia tissues and 166 retrospective primary OSCC samples were collected for immunohistochemical staining of TLR7 and showed up-regulated expression during carcinogenesis. Moreover, patients with high expression of TLR7 in tumor cells (TCs) had poor differentiation and prognosis. Interestingly, patients with high expression of TLR7 in stroma fibroblast-like cells (FLCs) had low tumor stage, no lymph node metastasis (LNM) and better prognosis. Furthermore, ki-67, CD3, CD4, CD8 and Foxp3 + tumor-infiltrated lymphocytes were assessed and found that TLR7 high TCs were infiltrated with fewer CD3 + CD4 + but more Foxp3 + lymphocytes. Importantly, patients with TLR7 low TCs and TLR7 high FLCs had less Foxp3 + lymphocytes infiltration and longer survival time than those who with TLR7 high TCs/TLR7 low FLCs, although TLR7 was not an independent prognostic factor for OSCC. Conclusions The low expression of TLR7 in tumor and high expression of TLR7 in stroma predict a good clinical outcome for OSCC patients and stroma FLCs might be conducive to immunotherapy by TLR7 agonist. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Print ISSN:
0309-0167
Electronic ISSN:
1365-2559
Topics:
Medicine
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