Predicting survival in oral squamous cell carcinoma via integrated analysis of tumor budding and tertiary lymphoid structures

Le résumé fourni par la source

Background: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) poses a significant health burden. Accumulating evidence indicates that tumor budding (TB) and tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) are both associated with the survival prognosis of OSCC patients; however, the prognostic value of integrated TB and TLS has not been investigated. The objective of this study was to validate the prognostic value of TB and TLS in OSCC, establish a TB-TLS interaction model to assess the "invasion-immune" status in OSCC tumor microenvironment. Patients and methods: A total of 510 patients diagnosed with OSCC were included in this retrospective study. TB and TLS were assessed via hematoxylin and eosin staining, and a TB/TLS index was established. Survival analysis and Cox regression were performed using R software, and a nomogram prediction model incorporating the TB/TLS index with clinicopathological factors was constructed and validated. Results: High-grade TB correlated with poor survival, while high-maturation TLS indicated favorable outcomes. The TB/TLS index exhibited superior prognostic discriminatory ability versus single biomarkers. Furthermore, a nomogram incorporating the TB/TLS index was developed and validated, demonstrating reliable predictive performance and good calibration. Conclusions: This retrospective study validated the prognostic value of TB and TLS in OSCC. The TB/TLS index showed better discriminative ability. External validation demonstrated that the nomogram prediction model achieved moderate predictive performance despite substantial baseline differences between cohorts.

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