Zhenwei Wang, Huiying Huang, Xiaohui Yuan, Chiyao Hsueh, Ming Zhang
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a common malignancy with high rate of lymph node metastasis (LNM), which significantly impacts prognosis. This study aims to evaluate the potential utility of Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum) and interleukin-32 (IL-32) as co-predictors for cervical LNM in HNSCC, enhancing preoperative assessment of metastatic status in patients.
Methods: Clinical information, tissue, and plasma samples were collected from a cohort of 254 HNSCC patients. IL-32 expression was assessed using immunohistochemistry (IHC), while fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was used to evaluate F. nucleatum enrichment in both tumor and paracancer tissue. Univariate and multivariate analyses identified significant risk factors.
Results: IL-32 levels were higher in tumor tissue compared to paracancer tissue (P<0.001). Patients with high F. nucleatum enrichment had higher IL-32 expression (P=0.04). Through univariate and multivariate analyses, alcohol, Ki-67 (antigen Kiel-67) expression, F. nucleatum enrichment and IL-32 expression were identified as significant risk factors of LNM. The comparison of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves for these factors showed that the combined use of all chosen indicators resulted in the highest diagnostic accuracy.
Conclusions: The enrichment of F. nucleatum in cancer tissue is positively correlated with high expression of IL-32, suggesting that these two novel indicators, F. nucleatum and IL-32, along with Ki-67 and alcohol, may serve as preoperative predictors for LNM in HNSCC. This discovery holds great potential to facilitate the development of more precise and personalized surgical strategies for patients.
期刊介绍:
Translational Cancer Research (Transl Cancer Res TCR; Print ISSN: 2218-676X; Online ISSN 2219-6803; http://tcr.amegroups.com/) is an Open Access, peer-reviewed journal, indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE). TCR publishes laboratory studies of novel therapeutic interventions as well as clinical trials which evaluate new treatment paradigms for cancer; results of novel research investigations which bridge the laboratory and clinical settings including risk assessment, cellular and molecular characterization, prevention, detection, diagnosis and treatment of human cancers with the overall goal of improving the clinical care of cancer patients. The focus of TCR is original, peer-reviewed, science-based research that successfully advances clinical medicine toward the goal of improving patients'' quality of life. The editors and an international advisory group of scientists and clinician-scientists as well as other experts will hold TCR articles to the high-quality standards. We accept Original Articles as well as Review Articles, Editorials and Brief Articles.