Comparison of Selected Immune and Hematological Parameters and Their Impact on Survival in Patients with HPV-Related and HPV-Unrelated Oropharyngeal Cancer

Simple Summary

This is a research article on oropharyngeal cancer (OPC). The aim of the study was to assess and compare basic immune parameters and ratios in patients with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)+ and HPV− OPC, before and after radiotherapy (RT) or chemoradiotherapy (CRT), and to investigate their impact on overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). The higher neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and systemic immune inflammation (SII) are significant adverse prognostic factors for HPV+ OPC patients, because they are significantly associated with both inferior OS and DFS in this group, whereas the higher platelet cells (PLT) count is significant adverse prognostic factor for HPV− OPC patients, because it is significantly associated with inferior OS and DFS in this group. This study confirmed that determination of HPV etiology as well as analysis of various hematological and immune parameters should be a standard management in OPC patients in order to properly treat them for improved prognosis.

Abstract

Several immune and hematological parameters are associated with survival in patients with oropharyngeal cancer (OPC). The aim of the study was to analyze selected immune and hematological parameters of patients with HPV-related (HPV+) and HPV-unrelated (HPV−) OPC, before and after radiotherapy/chemoradiotherapy (RT/CRT) and to assess the impact of these parameters on survival. One hundred twenty seven patients with HPV+ and HPV− OPC, treated with RT alone or concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CRT), were included. Patients were divided according to HPV status. Confirmation of HPV etiology was obtained from FFPE (Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded) tissue samples and/or extracellular circulating HPV DNA was determined. The pre-treatment and post-treatment laboratory blood parameters were compared in both groups. The neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet/lymphocyte ratio (PLR), monocyte/lymphocyte ratio (MLR), and systemic immune inflammation (SII) index were calculated. The impact of these parameters on overall (OS) and disease-free (DFS) survival was analyzed. In HPV+ patients, a high pre-treatment white blood cells (WBC) count (>8.33 /mm³), NLR (>2.13), SII (>448.60) significantly correlated with reduced OS, whereas high NLR (>2.29), SII (>462.58) significantly correlated with reduced DFS. A higher pre-treatment NLR and SII were significant poor prognostic factors for both OS and DFS in the HPV+ group. These associations were not apparent in HPV− patients. There are different pre-treatment and post-treatment immune and hematological prognostic factors for OS and DFS in HPV+ and HPV− patients. The immune ratios could be considered valuable biomarkers for risk stratification and differentiation for HPV− and HPV+ OPC patients.

The influence of neuropilin-1 silencing on semaphorin 3A and 3C activity in B16(F10) murine melanoma cells

Neuropilin-1 (Nrp1), originally characterized as an adhesion molecule in the nervous system, is a co-receptor for class-3 semaphorins. Neuropilins and semaphorins are highly expressed in a wide spectrum of tumors and have been shown to influence their growth and vascularization. Despite the growing body of data on neuropilin/semaphorin regulation of tumor growth, still the exact mechanism of their activity remains to be elucidated. Previously published data suggests that Nrp1 has both anti- and promigratory characteristics in different tumor types, although no data is available on its role in melanoma cells. In this paper, we studied the effect of Nrp1 downregulation on B16(F10) melanoma cells migration. Our results show that the silencing of Nrp1 significantly increases the overall mobility of B16(F10) cells and changes their morphology. Moreover, Nrp1-silenced B16(F10) cells show a decreased response to Sema3A. We also observed reduced binding of Sema3A to these cells. Contrarily, no changes were observed in the binding of Sema3C to Nrp1-silenced B16(F10) cells, nor in its chemorepellent activity. Our results suggest that modulation of B16(F10) cells migratory ability by semaphorin 3A can be preferentially mediated by Nrp1, while the contribution of semaphorin 3C in this process is less evident. In addition, silencing of Nrp1 did not change the migratory ability of B16(F10) cells towards VEGF.