The relationship between tumor-infiltrating neutrophils and clinical outcomes in patients with resectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: The impact of tumor-infiltrating neutrophils (TINs) on clinical outcomes has been reported in various cancer types, but their role in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been fully evaluated. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic values for TINs in HCC patients undergoing curative resection. Methods: We assessed immune markers (CD3, CD4, CD8, CD66b) using immunohistochemistry in 115 patients who underwent curative resection for HCC. We analyzed the prognostic values for tumor-infiltrating immune cells, including neutrophils, and other clinicopathological factors. Results: In the Multivariate Cox analysis of overall survival (OS), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) ≥ 100 ng/mL (hazard ratio (HR), 2.74, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.17–6.44; P = 0.021) and Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) B/C stage (HR, 3.98, 95% CI, 1.68–9.43; P = 0.020) were found to be independent poor prognostic factors in HCC patients undergoing resection. The presence of CD66b⁺TINs was observed in 66 (57.4%) patients. However, CD66b⁺TINs were not associated with recurrence-free survival and OS. Conclusions: Our study identified low CD66b⁺TINs in resectable HCC, and CD66b⁺ TINs did not have a significant role for the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing curative resection. The results suggest that TINs may play a role in more advanced stages of HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of BMC Cancer is the property of BioMed Central and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)