ArticleRadiation oncology (London, England)2022
Prognostic value of tumor-infiltrating immune cells and immune checkpoints in elderly head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma patients undergoing definitive (chemo)radiotherapy.
Article in Radiation oncology (London, England), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 28 citations in OpenAlex.
- Intraepithelial lymphocytes in human oral diseases.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Pooled it
- Programmed Cell Death Ligand 1 Expression on Immune Cells and Survival in Patients With Nonmetastatic Head and Neck Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA network open · 2023Pooled it
- Review
- Modulating the tumor immune phenotypes by radiotherapy: formulating and validating the combination therapy of radiation, PD-L1, and TIM-3 blockade in colorectal cancer.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2026Article
- A novel immune-related gene signature stratifies prognosis and characterizes the tumor immune microenvironment in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Article
- TRIM Expression in HNSCC: Exploring the Link Between Ubiquitination, Immune Infiltration, and Signaling Pathways Through Bioinformatics.International journal of general medicine · 2024Article
- Type I conventional dendritic cells and CD8Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- Prognostic significance of Lymphocyte-activation gene 3 (LAG3) in patients with solid tumors: a systematic review, meta-analysis and pan-cancer analysis.Cancer cell international · 2023Review
- A novel immune-related prognostic model with surgical status to predict tumor immune cell infiltration and drug sensitivity in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.Biochemistry and biophysics reports · 2023Article
- Targeting oral tumor microenvironment for effective therapy.Cancer cell international · 2023Review
- The Immune Checkpoint Receptor CD96: A Local and Systemic Immune Modulator in Oral Cancer?Cancers · 2023Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
background and purposeTumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) are associated with locoregional control (LRC) in head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients undergoing (chemo)radiotherapy. As immunosenescence results in reduced immune activity, the role of TILs in elderly HNSCC patients may differ compared to younger patients, providing a rationale to study the prognostic role of TILs and immune checkpoints (ICs) in this population. MATERIAL AND
methodsSixty-three HNSCC patients aged ≥ 65 years undergoing definitive (chemo)radiotherapy between 2010 and 2019 with sufficient material from pre-treatment biopsies were included in the analysis. Immunohistochemical stainings of CD3, CD4, CD8, PD-L1, TIM3, LAG3, TIGIT and CD96, and of osteopontin as an immunosenescence-associated protein were performed. Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were determined using the Kaplan-Meier method, and Fine-Gray's models were used for locoregional failure (LRF) analyses.
resultsWhile there was no correlation between patient age and IC expression, osteopontin levels correlated with increasing age (r = 0.322, p < 0.05). Two-year OS, PFS, and LRC were 44%, 34%, and 71%, respectively. Increased LAG3 expression, both intraepithelial (SHR = 0.33, p < 0.05) and stromal (SHR = 0.38, p < 0.05), and elevated stromal TIM3 expression (SHR = 0.32, p < 0.05) corresponded with reduced LRFs. Absent tumoral PD-L1 expression (TPS = 0%) was associated with more LRFs (SHR = 0.28, p < 0.05). There was a trend towards improved LRF rates in elderly patients with increased intraepithelial CD3 + (SHR = 0.52, p = 0.07) and CD8 + (SHR = 0.52, p = 0.09) TIL levels.
conclusionLAG3, TIM3 and TPS are promising biomarkers in elderly HNSCC patients receiving (chemo)radiotherapy. Considering the frequency of non-cancer related deaths in this population, the prognostic value of these biomarkers primarily relates to LRC.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.