Digital pathology-aided assessment of tumor-infiltrating T lymphocytes in advanced stage, HPV-negative head and neck tumors

AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the presence and prognostic value of tumor-infiltrating T cells in the tumor epithelium in advanced stage, HPV-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) patients treated with primary chemoradiotherapy using digital pathology. METHODS: Pre-treatment biopsies from 80 oropharyngeal, 52 hypopharyngeal, and 29 laryngeal cancer patients were collected in a tissue microarray (TMA) and immunohistochemically stained for T-cell markers CD3, CD4, CD8, FoxP3, and PD1, and for immune checkpoint PD-L1. For each marker, the number of positive tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) per mm(2) tumor epithelium was digitally quantified and correlated to overall survival (OS), disease-free survival (DFS), and locoregional control (LRC), as well as to clinicopathological characteristics. Differences in clinical outcome were estimated using Cox proportional hazard analysis and visualized using Kaplan–Meier curves. RESULTS: The patient cohort had a 3-year OS of 58%, with a median follow-up of 53 months. None of the T-cell markers showed a correlation with OS, DFS or LRC. A low N stage was correlated to a better prognosis (OS: HR 0.39, p = 0.0028, DFS: HR 0.34, p = < 0.001, LRC: HR 0.24, p = 0.008). High TIL counts were more often observed in PD-L1-positive tumors (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study showed an objective, digital pathology-aided method to assess TILs in the tumor epithelium. However, it did not provide evidence for a prognostic role of the presence of CD3 + , CD4 + , CD8 + , FoxP3 + , and PD1 + TILs in the tumor epithelium of advanced stage, HPV-negative HNSCC patients treated with primary chemoradiotherapy. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00262-020-02481-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.