• Manuel Weber, Maike Büttner-Herold, Peter Hyckel, Patrick Moebius, Luitpold Distel, Jutta Ries, Kerstin Amann, Friedrich W Neukam, and Falk Wehrhan.
• Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. Electronic address: manuel.weber@uk-erlangen.de.
• J Craniomaxillofac Surg. 2014 Oct 1; 42 (7): 1087-94.

BackgroundIn solid malignancies the influence of immunological parameters - especially of macrophages - on invasiveness, metastatic potential and prognosis has been shown. There are no studies quantitatively analysing the macrophage polarization in oral squamous cell carcinoma (oscc). The aim of this study was to correlate macrophage polarization in the epithelial and stromal compartment of oscc with histopathologic parameters.MethodsT1 and T2 oscc samples (n = 34) were used. Automated immunohistochemical staining detected CD68, CD11c, CD163 and MRC1 positive cells. All samples were completely digitalized using whole slide imaging and the number of stained cells per area was assessed quantitatively.ResultsPrimary tumours with lymphogenic metastasis (N+) showed a significantly (p < 0.05) increased count of CD68, CD11c, CD163 and MRC1 positive cells in the epithelial fraction compared to N0 tumours. The ratio of CD163 positive cells (M2 macrophages) to CD68 positive cells (M1 and M2 macrophages) was significantly (p < 0.05) increased in N+ tumours.ConclusionAn increased macrophage infiltration and an increased M2 polarization in primary oral squamous cell carcinomas with lymphogenic metastasis was shown. Macrophages that migrated into the epithelial tumour fraction seem to be of special biological importance. The results indicate a central role of macrophages in the progression of oscc.Copyright © 2014 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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