Abstract
Penile squamous cell carcinomas are rare tumor entities throughout Europe. Early lymphonodal spread urges for aggressive therapeutic approaches in advanced tumor stages. Therefore, understanding tumor biology and its microenvironment and correlation with known survival data is of substantial interest in order to establish treatment strategies adapted to the individual patient. Fifty-five therapy naïve squamous cell carcinomas, age range between 41 and 85 years with known clinicopathological data, were investigated with the use of tissue microarrays (TMA) regarding the tumor-associated immune cell infiltrate density (ICID). Slides were stained with antibodies against CD3, CD8 and CD20. An image analysis software was applied for evaluation. Data were correlated with clinicopathological characteristics and overall survival. There was a significant increase of ICID in squamous cell carcinomas of the penis in relation to tumor adjacent physiological tissue. Higher CD3-positive ICID was significantly associated with lower tumor stage in our cohort. The ICID was not associated with overall survival. Our data sharpens the view on tumor-associated immune cell infiltrate in penile squamous cell carcinomas with an unbiased digital and automated cell count. Further investigations on the immune cell infiltrate and its prognostic and possible therapeutic impact are needed.
Highlights
Penile neoplasias are orphan diseases in Europe which can be treated with good overall survival in case of early detection
We investigated the tumor-associated immune cell infiltrate density (ICID) with three antibodies: CD3 and CD8 (T-cells) and CD20 (B-cells)
Comparing tumor and non-tumor tissue of our cohort of invasive squamous cell carcinomas of the penis, statistically significant differences in the distribution of the ICID stained via CD3, CD8 and CD20 antibodies were detected (Fig. 3)
Summary
Penile neoplasias are orphan diseases in Europe which can be treated with good overall survival in case of early detection. Most of the penile neoplasias are squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) [2]. In the WHO classification of Tumours of the Urinary System and Male Genital Organs, there are three main categories for penile squamous carcinomas: Tumors not attributed to infections by human papillomavirus (HPV), tumors with association to HPV [3] and other rare carcinomas [2]. Virchows Archiv known [4, 5] Apart from these factors, a focus was drawn to the tumor-associated immune cell response in recent years. Attempts on measuring this answer have been made in different tumor entities to generate information on the patients’ outcome. From an immunological point of view, tumors are separated into subgroups with low immune cell infiltrate, medium amount of immune cell infiltrate and high immune cell infiltrate [13]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Virchows Archiv : an international journal of pathology
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
