• Barbara Azzimonti, Luca Raimondo, Diletta Francesca Squarzanti, Tiziana Rosso, Paola Zanetta, Paolo Aluffi Valletti, Luigi Chiusa, Laura Masini, Giancarlo Pecorari, Mario Airoldi, Marco Krengli, Mirella Giovarelli, and Guido Valente.
• Center for Translational Research on Autoimmune and Allergic Diseases (CAAD), Department of Health Sciences (DiSS), University of Piemonte Orientale (UPO), Novara, Italy.
• Ann. Med. 2021 Dec 1; 53 (1): 541550541-550.

IntroductionMany types of research have been performed to improve the diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis of oropharyngeal carcinomas (OP-SCCs). Since they arise in lymphoid-rich areas and intense lymphocytic infiltration has been related to a better prognosis, a TREM-1 putative function in tumour progression and survival has been hypothesized.Materials And MethodsTwenty-seven human papillomavirus (HPV) 16+ OP-SCC specimens have been analyzed to relate TREM-1 expression with histiocytic and lymphocytic markers, HPV presence and patients' outcome.ResultsNo differences have been shown between intratumoral and stromal CD4+ cells, while intratumoral CD8+ lymphocytes are higher with respect to the tumour stroma (p = .0005). CD68+ cells are more than CD35+ and TREM-1+; their presence is related to CD35± and TREM-1± histiocytes (p = .005 and .026, respectively). Intratumoral CD4+ lymphocytes are higher in p16+ cases (11/27) than in p16- (p = .042); moreover, p16 positivity correlates to a better survival (p = .034). CD4+, CD8+ and CD35+ cells have no impact on survival, while CD68 expression heavily influences progression and bad outcome (p = .037). TREM-1 positivity also leads to worst overall survival (p = .001): peritumoral expression and death-cause relationship are always significant, particularly when the cause is OP-SCC (p = .000).ConclusionWhile p16 shows to better stratify HPV16+ patients' outcome, TREM-1+ macrophages suggest their key importance in HPV-related OP-SCCs progression.KEY MESSAGESTREM-1 positivity correlates to the worst overall survival of HPV16-positive OPSCCs-affected patients.p16-positive HPV16 related OPSCCs patients have a better prognosis with respect to p16-negative ones.

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