NUMERO: #20260435

Título: PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION INTO THE RELATION BETWEEN IMMATURE STROMA AND TUMOUR-INFILTRATING LYMPHOCYTES IN OSCC

Nome do Apresentador: Mohd Aiiman Bin MURAD

Categoria do Trabalho: Pôster - Investigação Original (IO)

Área Temática: Patologia Oral

Resumo: Objectives
In oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), dense stromal tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) predict favourable prognosis, whereas emerging evidence links immature stroma (IS) to poor outcomes. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) drive stromal remodelling which can exclude lymphocytes but the relationship between stromal architecture and sTIL infiltration remains unexplored. This study evaluated correlations between IS and sTILs, and the association of IS with alpha-smooth muscle actin (SMA), a CAF surrogate.

Study design
The percentage of IS and sTIL densities in a single representative H&E section from 52 OSCC resections were assessed by three pathologists independently. alpha-SMA immunohistochemistry was performed on a 20-case subset, and protein expression semi-quantified by calculating H-scores.

Results
Single and average intraclass correlation coefficients demonstrated high interobserver agreement for IS (0.802 and 0.924, respectively) and sTILs (0.846 and 0.943, respectively). sTIL density was inversely correlated with percentage IS (Pearsons r=-0.637, p<0.001; R²=0.405). IS was positively associated with alpha-SMA expression (Pearson Chi-Square=5.495, p=0.019).

Conclusion
The results of this study suggest that increased IS is associated with lower sTILs density, highlighting a possible immunosuppressive stromal pattern potentially driven by CAFs.

Autor 1:  Mohd Aiiman Bin MURAD

E-mail 1:  [email protected]

Autor 2:   Thomas George KALLARAKKAL

E-mail 2:  [email protected]

Autor 3 :  Ian Charles PATERSON

E-mail 3:  [email protected]

Autor 4:  Selvam James THAVARAJ

E-mail 4:  [email protected]