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Virus-associated malignancies and sarcomatoid cancers correlate with high PD-L1 expression, however, underlying mechanisms remain controversial. We evaluated the correlation between PD-L1 expression and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC). Tumor tissues from 50 patients with HNSCC were evaluated for PD-L1 by immunohistochemistry, which showed 32 (64.0%) were PD-L1 positive (PD-L1+). Interestingly, PD-L1 expression was significantly associated with EMT (P = 0.010), as assessed by low E-cadherin and high vimentin expression. The overall survival of PD-L1+ patients with EMT features was significantly worse than those without EMT features (P = 0.007). In an independent validation cohort (N = 91), as well as in HNSCC cases of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia, high PD-L1 expression was also associated with the high probability of an EMT signature, referred from the GEO dataset, GSE4824. Survival analysis confirmed PD-L1+/EMT+ patients had a poorer prognosis than PD-L1+/EMT- patients in the TCGA cohort. PD-L1 positivity can thus be divided into two categories according to the absence or presence of EMT. PD-L1 expression is also independently associated with EMT features in HNSCC.

Objective: Integrin-associated protein (CD47) binds specifically to the inhibitory receptor signal-regulatory protein. This study was designed to evaluate the role of CD47 in natural killer (NK) cell-mediated cytotoxicity against cancer cells. Methods: Head-and-neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) cell lines were analyzed for the expression of CD47 and susceptibility to NK cell-mediated killing. Cytolytic activity was assessed by ⁵¹Cr-specific release assays and by measuring cytokine production. Results: HNSCC cell lines that had high CD47 expression showed lower levels of NK cytotoxicity than those with low CD47 expression. After pre-treating cells with neutralizing major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I or anti-CD47 antibodies, NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity against HNSCC cell lines increased. In addition, when CD47 cDNA was transfected into Caco-2 cells, NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity decreased. Conclusion: These findings suggest that CD47 may play an inhibitory role in NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity against cancer cells, implying a possible mechanism of immune escape in human cancer.

The choice of treatment of ATC and PDTC could be modified according to resectability and lymphatic invasion of the cancer.

Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression is regarded as a predictive marker for anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy. The purpose of study was to explore the changes in PD-L1 expression in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) during treatment. Paired HNSCC tissues prior to and after cisplatin-based treatment were evaluated to determine PD-L1 protein expression by immunohistochemistry. Among the 35 HNSCC patient samples, PD-L1 expression status changed after treatment in 37.1% (13/35) of samples. Among the 13 patients whose baseline PD-L1 was negative, PD-L1 expression was increased in 9 cases (69.2%) and remained negative in 4 cases (30.8%, P = 0.003). Patients exposed to cisplatin generally showed PD-L1 up-regulation (83.3%, P = 0.037) compared to those not exposed to cisplatin (57.1%, P = 0.072). To validate these findings in vitro, changes in PD-L1 expression in HNSCC cell lines (Detroit-562, PCI-13, SNU-1041, SNU-1066, SNU-1076, and FaDu) were analyzed by western blotting and flow cytometry after treatment with cisplatin and interferon-gamma. In HNSCC cell lines, PD-L1 expression was significantly up-regulated after cisplatin, along with phosphor-MAPK/ERK kinase up-regulation. In conclusion, PD-L1 expression in HNSCC may be altered during cisplatin treatment, activating the MAPK/ERK kinase pathway.

Reflux finding score and body mass index were significantly associated with LTH in adults with sleep-disordered breathing, whereas the respiratory parameters were not associated with LTH.

Sleep MRI is a valuable method for evaluating dynamic obstruction during sleep and may be helpful in selecting the appropriate treatment approaches.