The prognostic value of preoperative neutrophils, platelets, lymphocytes, monocytes and calculated ratios in patients with laryngeal squamous cell cancer

Alcohol consumption, which affects the structure and composition of the laryngeal microbiota, is one of the most important risk factors for laryngeal squamous cell cancer (LSCC). Our results demonstrated that high enrichment of Fusobacterium nucleatum (F. nucleatum) in LSCC was associated with poor prognosis. F. nucleatum increased miR-155-5p and miR-205-5p expression to suppress alcohol dehydrogenase 1B (ADH1B) and transforming growth factor β receptor 2 (TGFBR2) expression by activating innate immune signaling, resulting in ethanol metabolism reprogramming to allow F. nucleatum accumulation and PI3K/AKT signaling pathway activation to promote epithelial-mesenchymal transition, further exacerbating the uncontrolled progression and metastasis of LSCC. Therefore, the positive feed-forward loop between F. nucleatum and ethanol metabolism reprogramming promotes cell proliferation, migration, and invasion to affect LSCC patient prognosis. The amount of F. nucleatum is a potential prognostic biomarker, which yields valuable insight into clinical management that may improve the oncologic outcome of patients with LSCC.

Microbial community structure and its shift after laryngectomy in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) patients were investigated. Thirty swab samples of LSCC prior to laryngectomy (SLC), 18 samples after 1-weeks laryngectomy (SLCA1w), and 30 samples after 24-week laryngectomy (SLCA24w) from 30 LSCC patients were sourced. Microbial diversity was profiled through sequencing the V3-4 variable region of the 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) gene. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to validate the V3-4 region of 16S rRNA sequence data. The community structure and function of throat microbiota were assessed by PICRUSt analysis. Both Alpha and Beta diversity results showed significant differences in the throat microbiota of LSCC patients before and after laryngectomy (P < 0.05). Drinking index of SLC group was positively associated with the genus abundance of Prevotella (P < 0.05). SLCA1w group had lower abundance of Fusobacterium, Leptotrichia, Lachnoanaerobaculum and Veillonella compared to the SLC group (P < 0.05). SLCA24w group had higher abundance of Streptococcus and Leptotrichia, as well as the lower abundance of Fusobacterium and Alloprevotella compared to the SLC group (P < 0.05). The different propensity of throat microbiome of SLC group could implicate human cancer signaling pathways evident through Phylogenetic Investigation of Communities by Reconstruction of Unobserved States (PICRUSt) analysis (P < 0.05). Our study clarifies altered throat microbial community structure and function in LSCC patients during the perioperative period and post-operative recovery period. Importance Laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma greatly impacts patient9s livelihood, and non-invasive ways for prognostic assessment is valuable in determining the effectiveness of laryngectomy. We set to study the microbial structure changes in throat before and after laryngectomy and found the gene functions of several throat bacteria to be associated with human cancer signaling pathways. Our findings may offer insights into the disease management of patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. We hope to provide a perspective in molecular mechanisms to improve the prognosis of laryngeal cancer treatment and to facilitate relevant research.

Objective: The aim of this work was to analyze the clinical characteristics and pretreatment peripheral blood cell counts of patients with hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC) and determine their relationship with clinical outcomes. Methods: One hundred ninety-seven patients were eligible for the study. The relationship between survival and pretreatment peripheral absolute neutrophil count (ANC), absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), absolute monocyte count (AMC), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance, t-test, and univariate and multivariate analysis. Results: The median follow-up time was 30.95 months (range 1–82 months). The 3-year disease-free survival (DFS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and overall survival (OS) rates for all patients were 40.8, 51.0, and 48.1%, respectively. The ANC, AMC, NLR, and LMR were significantly associated with tumor stage and clinical stage (p < .05). A high NLR (≥2.69) and low LMR (<2.98) were significantly associated with poor DFS, CSS, and OS. The LMR was a significant independent prognostic factor for DFS, CSS, and OS (p = .035, .047, and .045, respectively). Conclusion: The pretreatment LMR should be considered as an independent prognostic factor for patients with HPSCC.