Role of tumor-associated macrophages in occurrence and development of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
WU Meng
LIU Hongxia
HAO Peng
LIU Yifei
GAO Yihan
HUANG Ying
TU Jingyi
ZHANG Ling
HAN Fengyan
SUN Yuman
Abstract：Objective To detect the expression of tumor associated macrophages(TAM)markers CD163 and CD68 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma(HNSCC),and to analyze their relationship with the clinicopathological characteristics and prognostic value of HNSCC.Methods A total of 76 HNSCC specimens with complete clinicopathological data were selected,immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of CD163 and CD68 in tumor stroma and their correlation with clinical pathological features such as patient gender,age,tumor differentiation degree,maximum tumor size,lymph node metastasis,T stage,and Ki-67 proliferation index.Results The 76 cases of HNSCC were divided into high-density and low-density groups based on the median expression of CD163 and CD68 as critical values.The median expression of CD163 positive TAMs was 26/0.24 mm2 HPF,and the median expression of CD68 positive TAMs was 53/0.24 mm2 HPF.The high-density expression rate of CD163 was higher in the lymph node metastasis group compared to the non-metastasis group,and higher in TⅢ-Ⅳ stage compared to TⅠ-Ⅱ stage(P<0.05).The expression rate of CD163 was not related to patient gender,age,tumor differentiation degree,Ki-67 expression,and tumor maximum diameter(all P>0.05).Similarly,the high-density expression rate of CD68 was higher in the lymph node metastasis group compared to the non-metastasis group,and higher in TⅢ-Ⅳ stage compared to TⅠ-Ⅱ stage(P<0.05).Additionally,the high-density expression rate of CD68 was higher in cases with tumor size>2 cm compared to≤2 cm.The expression rate of CD68 was not associated with patient gender,age,tumor differentiation degree,or Ki-67 expression(P>0.05).Conclusion The high expression of CD163 and CD68 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma tissues is associated with lymph node metastasis and tumor staging.The assessment of the expression of TAM markers such as CD163 and CD68 with the immunomicroenvironment of HNSCC tumors contributes to the prognostic evaluation of HNSCC patients.
Keywords：squamous cell carcinoma of the head and necktumor-associated macrophagesM2CD163CD68
Publication Date：2025-11-28
Online Publishing Date：2025-12-04(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 1415-1419 )