Association between cancer immunity and treatment results in uterine cervical cancer patients treated with radiotherapy

• Published in: Japanese journal of clinical oncology 2020-11, Vol.50 (11), p.1290-1297
• Main Authors: Someya, Masanori, Tsuchiya, Takaaki, Fukushima, Yuki, Hasegawa, Tomokazu, Takada, Yu, Hori, Masakazu, Miura, Katsutoshi, Kitagawa, Mio, Gocho, Toshio, Hirohashi, Yoshihiko, Torigoe, Toshihiko, Iwasaki, Masahiro, Matsuura, Motoki, Saito, Tsuyoshi, Sakata, Koh-ichi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1465-3621; 1465-3621
• DOI: 10.1093/jjco/hyaa149

OBJECTIVETo evaluate proteins related to tumor immune response and treatment outcome from radiotherapy for uterine cervical cancer patients. METHODSWe performed a retrospective immunohistochemical staining of 81 patients with uterine cervical cancer who underwent definitive radiotherapy. We examined the expression of programmed death ligand 1, human leukocyte antigen class I, tumor-infiltrating CD8+, and forkhead box P3+ (FoxP3+) T cells in tumor tissues. RESULTSIn biopsy specimen, patients with a higher number of CD8+ T cells and FoxP3+ T cells had a better disease-specific survival than patients with a lower number of CD8+ T cells and FoxP3+ cells (P = 0.018 and P = 0.009). Multivariate analysis showed that equivalent dose in 2 Gy fractions (EQD2) of the minimum dose to 90% of the high-risk clinical target volume, FoxP3+ T cells and expression of human leukocyte antigen class I were significant prognostic factors. When the EQD2 is 70 Gy or more, a higher local control rate is obtained regardless of the number of CD8- or FoxP3-positive cells. When EQD2 is