Eosinophils may predict occult lymph node metastasis in early oral cancer

Abstract

The presence of intense TATE is an adjunctive histopathological marker to reinforce the indication of elective neck dissection of the patients with early OSCC.

Tumor-Associated Tissue Eosinophilia in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck

“…Jain et al evaluated the relationship between histopathologic grading and eosinophil count in metastatic and non-metastatic oral SCC and showed that in well and moderate differentiated metastatic SCC there is a less average eosinophilic count compared to nonmetastatic ones (14). In the current study, there was no relationship between age and gender of the patients with eosinophil count, which was similar to other studies (9,10). However, in the study by Ercan et al, conducted on larynx SCC, there was negative relationship between TATE and age; a decrease in TATE was reported in patients older than 60 years (19).…”

“…Studies showed controversy between eosinophils and effective clinicopathologic factors on prognosis. Some of them reported eosinophils as an independent prognostic factor in OSCC (8) and considered eosinophils as a histopathologic marker to predict early stage lymph node metastasis in patients with OSCC (9). While other studies showed that TATE is not a death risk factor in patients with OSCC (10) and it has no relationship with factors including histopathologic grading and vascular, neural and muscular invasions (11).…”

Clinical Implications of Tumor‐Associated Tissue Eosinophilia in Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma

“…Some studies demonstrated a significant association between high TATE levels and better overall survival . Other studies demonstrated the opposite result, namely, that higher levels of TATE were associated with locoregional recurrence and poorer prognosis . These conflicting results may be explained by inconsistencies in the methods used to measure TATE.…”

“…These conflicting results may be explained by inconsistencies in the methods used to measure TATE. These studies used several different proposals and criteria to classify TATE, and TATE levels varied by the methods used to measure the number of eosinophils, intensity and scores, and location of eosinophils within the tumor . The number of eosinophils per high‐power field and the number of eosinophils/square millimeter (density) are the two most commonly used methods to evaluate TATE .…”

“…Different subsets of leukocytes play distinct roles in the tumor microenvironment, and eosinophils release various proteins that exhibit pro‐ and antitumor immunity . Tumor‐associated tissue eosinophilia (TATE) was defined by Przewoski in 1896 as the intra‐ and peritumoral infiltration of eosinophils, but the role of TATE as a prognostic factor in oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma remains controversial . The heterogeneous classifications or grades proposed in different studies of TATE expression using histopathological examination may contribute to these conflicting results …”