Tumor-Infiltrating Macrophage and Microvessel Density in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

Tumor-associated macrophages (TAM) are the main cellular component in stroma of many tumors and participate in tumor angiogenesis. The aim of present study was to compare the microvascular density (MVD) and infiltrating macrophage density (IMD) in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCCs) with different histological grades. A histomorphometric analysis was performed after immunohistochemistry using antibodies such as von-Willebrand factor and CD68. A significant difference in MVD was found between well and moderately differentiated OSCCs (p<0.05). TAM were largely present in all studied tumors and the IMD was not different among OSCCs with different histological grades (p=0.381). Significant correlation between MVD and IMD was not observed (p=0.870). In conclusion, these results suggest that TAM and angiogenesis have an influence at different histological grades of OSCC. However, the lack of correlation between MVD and IMD could suggest that angiogenesis does not depend on the number of macrophages present in OSCC, but their predominant phenotype. Further studies involving distinct phenotypes of macrophages should be done to better understand the influence of TAM on the tumor angiogenesis.

Young and elderly oral squamous cell carcinoma patients present similar angiogenic profile and predominance of M2 macrophages: Comparative immunohistochemical study

“…The results of the current study show similar angiogenic profile and predominance of M2 macrophages in both young and elderly patients, suggesting its regulation by molecular mechanisms of the tumor microenvironment. Moreover, similar with Bôas et al and Chawla et al, and different from El‐Rouby, we have not observed significant correlation between TAMs and angiogenesis in OSCC patients.…”

“…Among the studies assessing the age‐related OSCC profile, few evaluate the role and functioning of the stromal cells in the tumor microenvironment . By considering inflammatory cells, TAMs exhibiting M2 phenotype are often detected, being known its role in tumor progression and invasion capacity, increased tumor cell motility, persistent tumor growth, proangiogenic properties, and suppression of antitumor response . However, in these studies, TAMs have been evaluated in correlation with cellular differentiation, clinical staging, and survival, which show overall similar TAM profile when assessing OSCCs with different histological grades; however, significant association of M2 phenotype with a worse survival …”

“…Nevertheless, it seems reliable that M1 and M2 macrophages are identified by CD68+/CD163− and CD68+/CD163+ immunoprofile, respectively. [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] In OSCC, the most studies show a M2 phenotype predominance, 27,28,33,36,[39][40][41] with some of them assessing the relationship between TAMs and angiogenesis. 33,[39][40][41] However, notably, this latter is unknown when comparatively evaluating young and elderly OSCC patients.…”

The Expression and Relationship of CD68-Tumor-Associated Macrophages and Microvascular Density With the Prognosis of Patients With Laryngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

“…More importantly, we identified TAMs as one of the tumor microenvironment in the tumor-macrophage interaction and showed that laryngeal cancer cells released TAMs, which, subsequently, promote tumor migration. There are fewer reports about the relationship between CD68-TAMs and microvascular density (MVD) [10]. Despite progress in understanding the interplay between inflammation and cancer, important questions remain unanswered.…”

Immunohistochemical Study of CD68, CD3 and Bcl-2 and their Role in Progression and Prognosis of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

“…Also a study by Boas et al, and ElRouby, found TAM largely present in all studied SCC tumors and concluded that IMD was not different among HNSCCs with different histological grades [29,45]. This difference was explained by the mixed cell populations of macrophages including M1, M2 and undifferentiated monocytes/ macrophages which are all positive for CD68 (pan macrophage marker), these types of macrophages play different roles in the development and progression of HNSCC [46].…”