Characterization of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Associated Inflammation: A Pilot Study

Catherine Laliberté; Nicole Ng; Denise Eymael; Kevin Higgins; Aiman Ali; Alex Kiss; Grace Bradley; Marco A O Magalhaes

doi:10.3389/froh.2021.740469

Characterization of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Associated Inflammation: A Pilot Study

Front Oral Health. 2021 Sep 21:2:740469. doi: 10.3389/froh.2021.740469. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Catherine Laliberté¹, Nicole Ng², Denise Eymael², Kevin Higgins³, Aiman Ali², Alex Kiss⁴, Grace Bradley^{1

5}, Marco A O Magalhaes^{1

2

5}

Affiliations

¹ Oral Pathology and Oral Medicine, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
² Cancer Invasion and Metastasis Laboratory, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada.
³ Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴ Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Sunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁵ Dental and Maxillofacial Sciences Department, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada.

Abstract

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is a devastating disease that is usually associated with a dense associated inflammatory infiltrate. Characterizing tumor-associated inflammation is critical to understand the pathogenies of tumor development and progression. Methods: We have tested a protocol to analyze tissue and salivary immune cells and mediators of 37 patients with OSCC at different stages and compared to eight chronic periodontitis patients and 24 healthy controls. Tissue analysis was based on fluorescent immunohistochemistry (FIHC) and inflammatory mediators were analyzed using a Luminex-based 30-Plex panel. Immune cells were analyzed using multichannel flow cytometry including CD45, CD66b, CD3, CD4, CD8, CD25, CD56, CD68, CD138, PD-1, and PD-L1. Results: We show an increase in OSCC-associated inflammation characterized by increased pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-6, IL-8, TNFα, and GMCSF and increased salivary immune cells. Conclusion: We described a new method to analyze salivary inflammatory markers that can be used in future studies to monitor disease progression and prognosis.

Keywords: IL6; cancer; chemokine; cytokine; dysplasia; inflammation; oral cancer; saliva.