Characteristics of B lymphocyte infiltration in HPV+ head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Issue 4 (25th February 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Siwei; Wang, Bozhi; Ma, Fen; Tong, Fangjia; Yan, Bingqing; Liu, Tianyang; Xie, Huanhuan; Song, Lianhao; Yu, Siyang; Wei, Lanlan
• Is Part Of: Cancer science. Volume 112:Issue 4(2021)
• Page Start: 1402
• Page End: 1416
• Publication Date: 2021-02-25
• Subjects: B lymphocyte subsets -- chemokine -- CXCL13 -- head and neck squamous cell carcinoma -- human papillomavirus infection -- T lymphocytes; Cancer -- Periodicals; Neoplasms -- Periodicals; Research -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 616.994005
• DOI: 10.1111/cas.14834
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1347-9032

Abstract

Abstract: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is an important etiological factor of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). HPV + HNSCC patients usually have a better prognosis, which probably results from the higher infiltration of B lymphocytes. This study was purposed to detect the infiltration of B lymphocyte subsets and the correlation between B lymphocyte subsets and the prognosis in HPV‐related HNSCC. In this study, 124 HPV + and 513 HPV − HNSCC samples were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database for transcriptomic analysis. Infiltration of B lymphocytes subsets was detected with 7 HPV + HNSCC and 13 HPV − HNSCC tissues through immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. One HPV − HNSCC sample was detected with single‐cell sequencing for chemokine analysis. In the results, the infiltration of plasma cells (CD19 + CD38 + ) and memory B cells (MS4A1 + CD27 + ) was higher in HPV + HNSCC samples. High infiltration of plasma cells and memory B cells was related to a better prognosis. High density of B lymphocytes was positively correlated with high CXCL13 production mainly from CD4 + T lymphocytes in HNSCC. These results indicated that a high density of plasma cells and memory B cells could predict excellent prognosis. CD4 + T lymphocytes might affect B lymphocytes and their subsets through the CXCL13/CXCR5 axis in HNSCC. Abstract : For the first time, we observed the infiltration and distribution of B lymphocyte subsets around HNSCC tissues by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence. We first discovered that the high infiltration of plasma cells (CD19 + CD38 + ) and memory B cells (MS4A1 + CD27 + ) in HPV + HNSCC microenvironment was related to better prognosis, and CD4 + T cells could affect B lymphocyte infiltration through the CXCL13/CXCR5 axis.