Abstract:

Objective To investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor （VEGF）， dendritic cell （DC） differentiation and regulatory T cells （Treg） in oral cancer， and to analyze the factors that affect the recurrence of oral cancer. Methods  The clinical data of 67 patients from January 2015 to June 2015 were collected. The recurrence of the patients was followed up. The expression of VEGF， CD83， CD1αand Foxp3 in oral cancer tissues was detected by immunohistochemical SP， and the relationship between the expression and recurrence of oral cancer was analyzed. The independent factors affecting the recurrence of oral cancer were analyzed by Cox regression model. Results The positive expression rate of VEGF in oral cancer tissues was 59.7％ （40／67）， which was related to tumor location， TNM stage and tumor volume （P＜0.05）. The positive expression rates of CD83 and Foxp3 were 52.2％ （35／67） and 38.8％ （28／67）， respectively， which were related to TNM staging and lymph node metastasis （P＜0.05）. The positive expression rate of CD1 alpha was 41.8％ （26／67）， which was related to TNM stage （P＜0.05）. The mean follow-up period was （31.45±6.23） months， and 21 patients relapsed. There were significant differences in TNM staging， lymph node metastasis， VEGF expression， CD1α， CD1 alpha+ dendritic cell distribution and the distribution of Foxp3+T cells in recurrent and non recurrent patients （P＜0.05）. The Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that VEGF expression was negatively correlated with the distribution of CD83+ dendritic cells， but positively correlated with the distribution of Foxp3+T cells （P＜0.05）， and the distribution of CD83+and CD1α+ dendritic cells was negatively correlated （P＜0.05）， and the distribution of Foxp3+T cells was positively correlated with the distribution of CD1α+ dendritic cells （P＜0.05）. The analysis of multiple factor Cox regression model showed that TNM staging， lymph node metastasis， VEGF positive expression， CD1α+ low distribution and high Foxp3+distribution were independent risk factors for postoperative recurrence （P＜0.05）. Conclusion VEGF in the tumor microenvironment is related to the decrease in the number of mature DCs， but the distribution of immature DCs is positively correlated with the distribution of Treg cells， which can be used as a reference index to judge the prognosis of oral cancer patients.

Key words:

Oral cancer')">"> Oral cancer, Vascular endothelial growth factor（VEGF）, Dendritic cell（DC）, Regulatory T lymphocyte（Treg）