PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - KEI TSUCHIHASHI
AU  - MUNEHIDE NAKATSUGAWA
AU  - JUN-ICHI KOBAYASHI
AU  - TAKASHI SASAYA
AU  - RENA MORITA
AU  - TERUFUMI KUBO
AU  - TAKAYUKI KANASEKI
AU  - TOMOHIDE TSUKAHARA
AU  - HIROKO ASANUMA
AU  - TADASHI HASEGAWA
AU  - HIROSHI HIRANO
AU  - AKIHIRO MIYAZAKI
AU  - YOSHIHIKO HIROHASHI
AU  - TOSHIHIKO TORIGOE
TI  - Borderline Microenvironment Fibrosis Is a Novel Poor Prognostic Marker of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma
AID  - 10.21873/anticanres.14434
DP  - 2020 Aug 01
TA  - Anticancer Research
PG  - 4319--4326
VI  - 40
IP  - 8
4099  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/40/8/4319.short
4100  - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/40/8/4319.full
SO  - Anticancer Res2020 Aug 01; 40
AB  - Background/Aim: The tumor microenvironment (TME) balances tumor growth and suppression through humoral factors and cell-cell interactions. In oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), TMEs have been associated with prognosis of cancer patients and are evaluated by microscopy; however, these methods of evaluation vary among studies. Materials and Methods: To evaluate the TME, borderline microenvironment fibrosis (bMF) was evaluated histologically in 236 OSCC cases and used to determine the clinicopathological status. Results: bMF was observed in 47% (110 in 236 cases) of OSCC cases and associated with higher T category, N category, stage, histological grade and mode of invasion. bMF-positive was related to overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Multivariate analysis revealed that bMF-positive was an independent factor for OS in all cases [n=226; HR=1.683 (1.018–2.781); p=0.042], especially in T1+T2 cases [n=186; HR=1.926 (1.079–3.440); p=0.024], and PFS in all cases [n=226; HR=2.254 (1.397–3.637); p=0.001]. Conclusion: bMF may act as a novel biomarker for OSCC.