Significance of perivascular lymphocytic infiltrates on survival of patients with invasive cervical cancer

J Immunother. 2003 Mar-Apr;26(2):149-55. doi: 10.1097/00002371-200303000-00007.

Abstract

The authors retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 129 patients with stage IB and II cervical cancer (93 squamous cell carcinomas, 30 adenocarcinomas, and 6 adenosquamous carcinomas) who underwent primary surgery between 1989 and 2000. Vascular invasion is the predictor of recurrence, and lymphocytic infiltrates within the tumor is associated with favorable outcome in cervical cancer. Hence, 129 patients were divided into three groups according to the presence or absence of vascular invasion (VI) and perivascular lymphocytic infiltrates (PLI); VI- (n = 77), VI+PLI- (n = 26), and VI+PLI+ (n = 26), to evaluate the significance of PLI. Age, clinical stage, histology, tumor grade, depth of stromal invasion, VI and PLI, tumor size, ovarian metastasis, pelvic lymph node metastasis, postoperative irradiation, and chemotherapy were assessed statistically for recurrence of the disease by Cox regression analysis. Disease-free survival was analyzed using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis. Recurrence was observed in 32 (25%) of all 129 cases. In a multivariate analysis, VI ( = 0.003) and histology ( = 0.006) remained significantly associated with recurrence. When divided into three groups, the hazard ratio for recurrence was higher in the absence of PLI (2.95 in VI+PLI- group versus 2.07 in VI+PLI+ group), and value became significant in the absence of PLI (0.008 in VI+PLI- group versus 0.106 in VI+PLI+ group). In Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, only the VI+PLI- group ( = 0.006) was significantly associated with worse survival compared with the VI- group. These results suggest that the coexistence of perivascular lymphocytic infiltrates is associated with a better prognosis in cases with vascular invasion.

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / mortality
  • Adenocarcinoma / pathology
  • Adenocarcinoma / surgery
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Biopsy, Needle
  • Carcinoma, Adenosquamous / mortality
  • Carcinoma, Adenosquamous / pathology
  • Carcinoma, Adenosquamous / surgery
  • Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / mortality
  • Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / pathology
  • Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / surgery
  • Disease-Free Survival
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hysterectomy / methods
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Japan
  • Lymph Node Excision
  • Lymphatic Metastasis / pathology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Multivariate Analysis
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness / pathology*
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / mortality*
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / pathology*
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / surgery
  • Probability
  • Prognosis
  • Proportional Hazards Models
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Risk Assessment
  • Survival Analysis
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / mortality*
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / surgery