Discrimination of Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients and Healthy Adults by 10-Color Flow Cytometry: Development of a Score Based on Leukocyte Subsets.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Leukocytes in peripheral blood (PB) are prognostic biomarkers in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cancer patients (HNSCC-CPs), but differences between HNSCC-CPs and healthy adults (HAs) are insufficiently described.

Methods

10-color flow cytometry (FCM) was used for in-depth immunophenotyping of PB samples of 963 HAs and 101 therapy-naïve HNSCC-CPs. Absolute (AbsCC) and relative cell counts (RelCC) of leukocyte subsets were determined. A training cohort (TC) of 43 HNSCC-CPs and 43 HAs, propensity score (PS)-matched according to age, sex, alcohol, and smoking, was used to develop a score consecutively approved in a validation cohort (VC).

Results

Differences in AbsCC were detected in leukocyte subsets (p < 0.001), but had low power in discriminat

SUBMITTER: Wichmann G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6628584 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature