Lymphocytic host response (LHR) in the RiskModel is histologically quantified as the density of lymphocytes at the tumor interface (Brandwein-Gensler in Am J Surg Pathol, 34:676-688, 1; in, Am J Surg Pathol 29:167-178, 2). It is classified as strong, intermediate or weak, and is inversely associated with the risk of decreased time to disease progression. In this study, we test the hypothesis that strong LHR corresponds to a greater degree of adaptive cytotoxic T cell response as compared to moderate LHR. We studied resection specimens of primary oral squamous carcinoma classified as having either strong (n = 16), intermediate (n = 20) or weak (n = 4) LHR. CD20?, CD4?, & CD8? cells were detected by immunohistochemistry and quantified at 409 with a grid; counting the 10 fields with the most lymphocytes at the tumor interface and within tumors. Mean counts/tumor were analyzed by the 2-sided T-test. Statistically significant differences were observed for interface CD8 cells with respect to strong versus moderate LHR, strong versus weak LHR, and moderate versus weak LHR, and tumor infiltrating CD8 cells with respect to strong versus weak LHR. Statistically significant differences were also observed for interface CD4 cells with respect to strong versus weak LHR, and moderate versus weak LHR. Statistically significant differences in interface B cell counts were seen with respect to strong versus weak LHR, and moderate versus weak LHR. Decreased CD8? T cells were significantly associated with higher stage at presentation (P = 0.005); a direct, but nonsignificant correlation was seen between decreased CD8? T cells and decreased survival time.Immune response at the tumor interface correlates with an adaptive T cell response; the degree of cytotoxic CD8? cells infiltrate can distinguish between strong and intermediate LHR at the interface of oral carcinomas.

Although pathologic complete response after neoadjuvant systemic chemotherapy (NST) is associated with an excellent prognosis, the prognosis for patients with residual disease is variable. The mitotic count (MC) is commonly used in the evaluation of histologic tumor grade, but its prognostic value relative to other factors when determined after NST has not been studied. We evaluated MC in the residual tumor after NST in order to determine whether it provided prognostic information independent of other factors, including the residual cancer burden (RCB). We retrospectively reviewed pathologic specimens from 80 patients with localized breast cancer who received standard NST, of whom 61 had residual disease evaluable for MC analysis and RCB score. The exact number of mitotic figures was counted in 10 high power (40×) fields (hpf). We classified tumors as having high (≥13 per 10 hpf) and low (<13 per 10 hpf) MC because this threshold fell at the midpoint for an intermediate MC score in the Nottingham combined histologic grade. Distant metastases developed in 2 of 32 (6.3 %) patients with a low MC compared with 18 of 29 (62.1 %) with a high MC (log-rank test, p < 0.001). When adjusted for other covariates, including age, estrogen receptor, HER2/neu expressions, and RCB score, a high MC was associated with a significantly higher risk of developing distant metastases (hazard ratio 11.21, 95 % CI [2.19, 57.37]; p = 0.004). Our findings indicated that evaluation of MC after NST warrants validation and further evaluation as a prognostic marker in breast cancer.

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