Functional and Phenotypic Analysis of Lymphocytes in Head and Neck Cancer

Assessment of Immune Cell Populations in Tumor Tissue and Peripheral Blood Samples from Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients

“…A comparative assessment of lymphocyte subtypes in tumor tissues, lymph nodes, and peripheral blood of patients 5 Analytical Cellular Pathology with HNSCC revealed significant differences regarding the local, regional, and systemic immune responses [24]. Thus, the level of CD4 + T lymphocytes was higher in the peripheral circulation than in the tumor tissue, a result similar to our research.…”

“…However, regarding the level of CD8 + T lymphocytes, although an increasing trend was observed in the tumor compared to peripheral blood, the differences were not statistically significant. In addition, the same study revealed an altered cytotoxic activity of lymphocytes in the tumor microenvironment and a decreasing tendency of NK cells (CD56 + ) in the tumor tissue compared to peripheral circulation, but again without reaching the threshold of statistical significance [24]. Acknowledging the limitations of our research regarding the low number of investigated patients, the differences from other studies could be explained by the different locations of the tumors, selection of patients in different stages of the disease, and inclusion in other studies of patients previously exposed to oncological treatment with radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy.…”

“…Alteration of cellular and humoral immune responses has been indicated as important players in the development and progression of HNSCC [7,24]. Systemic immunity may affect the clinical evolution of head and neck cancer [25], and the local immunity is essential in the control of tumor growth and invasion capacity [7,24].…”

Effect of Postradiotherapy Neck Dissection on Nonregional Disease Sites

“…Secondly, regional disease may act as a surrogate or even cause immune dysfunction that might be restored when the involved nodes are removed. In head and neck cancer patients, tumor infiltrating lymphocytes or lymph node lymphocytes were deficient in cytotoxic effector cells compared to the peripheral blood 36 . Furthermore, CD8+ T cells in both hyperplastic and metastatic lymph nodes showed diminished responses to mitogenic stimuli 37 .…”

Covalent linking of proteins and cytokines to suture: Enhancing the immune response of head and neck cancer patients

“…CD4+ cells are primarily located in the tumor stroma, whereas the CD8+ cells are located within the tumor parenchyma 46 . Natural killer (NK) cells, 65 dendritic cells, 68 and macrophages 47,69,70 comprise approximately 5% of the population. Approximately 40% of the T cells present express activation marks of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)‐DR, IL‐2R, or transferrin 71 …”