Immunophenotypic Features of CD68 and CD163 Distribution in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Tongue and Lip.
5 affiliations
- 1Department of Digital oncomorphology, National Medical Research Centre of Radiology, 2nd Botkinsky Passage, 3, 125284 Moscow, Russia.
- 2I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University), Trubetskaya Street, 8/2, 119048 Moscow, Russia.
- 3Department of Urology and Operative Nephrology with Oncourology Course of the Medical Institute, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia Named After Patrice Lumumba, Miklukho-Maklaya Street 6, 117198 Moscow, Russia.
- 4Research and Educational Resource Center for Immunophenotyping, Digital Spatial Profiling and Ultrastructural Analysis Innovative Technologies, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia Named After Patrice Lumumba, Miklukho-Maklaya Street 6, 117198 Moscow, Russia.
- 5Department of Fundamental Medicine, Institute for Physics and Engineering in Biomedicine, National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, Kashirskoe Shosse 31, 115409 Moscow, Russia.
Abstract
Background and objectives
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) belongs to a broad group of malignant neoplasms of the head and neck. It is known that components of the tumor microenvironment (TME) influence tumor progression. Similar patterns are being actively investigated in OSCC. In particular, a high density of CD68⁺ macrophages is associated with longer survival, whereas an abundance of M2 macrophages (CD163⁺) correlates with metastasis and an unfavorable prognosis. The present study compares the density and spatial distribution of CD68⁺ and CD163⁺ macrophages between intratumoral and peritumoral compartments in OSCC of the tongue and lip.Materials and methods
Data from 112 patients with a verified OSCC diagnosis were included in this study. For the comparative morphological analysis, two core groups were formed: (a) Group I (n = 84), patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma (pT1) of the tongue; (b) Group II (n = 28), patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma (pT1) of the lip. Immunohistochemistry was performed according to standard protocols.Results
Tongue OSCC was characterized by the predominant accumulation of both CD68⁺ and CD163⁺ macrophages in the peritumoral stroma compared with the intratumoral zones (34.2 ± 8.1 vs. 48.1 ± 6.4 cells/mm²). In contrast, in lip OSCC, a higher density of CD68⁺ macrophages was observed in the intratumoral compartment, whereas the number of CD163⁺ macrophages remained considerably lower in both the intratumoral (51.1 ± 4.3 vs. 9.4 ± 2.1 cells/mm²) and peritumoral stroma of the tumor.Conclusions
These findings demonstrate that tongue and lip OSCC harbor distinct patterns of macrophage distribution and polarization, underscoring the role of the immune microenvironment in the biological heterogeneity of OSCC and warranting further investigation into macrophage subtype-specific prognostic markers.
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BibTeX
@article{demyashkin2026immunophenotypic,
title = {{Immunophenotypic Features of CD68 and CD163 Distribution in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Tongue and Lip.}},
author = {Grigory Demyashkin and Andrey Kostin and Maya Epifanova and Alexandr Epifanov and Ekaterina Blinova and Anton Kasianov and Vladimir Shchekin and Dibakhan Tsomartova and Matvey Vadyukhin and Petr Shegai and Andrei Kaprin},
journal = {Diseases (Basel, Switzerland)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/diseases14100363},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42929990},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Immunophenotypic Features of CD68 and CD163 Distribution in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Tongue and Lip.
AU - Grigory Demyashkin
AU - Andrey Kostin
AU - Maya Epifanova
AU - Alexandr Epifanov
AU - Ekaterina Blinova
AU - Anton Kasianov
AU - Vladimir Shchekin
AU - Dibakhan Tsomartova
AU - Matvey Vadyukhin
AU - Petr Shegai
AU - Andrei Kaprin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/02
JO - Diseases (Basel, Switzerland)
DO - 10.3390/diseases14100363
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42929990
AB - Background and objectives Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) belongs to a broad group of malignant neoplasms of the head and neck. It is known that components of the tumor microenvironment (TME) influence tumor progression. Similar patterns are being actively investigated in OSCC. In particular, a high density of CD68⁺ macrophages is associated with longer survival, whereas an abundance of M2 macrophages (CD163⁺) correlates with metastasis and an unfavorable prognosis. The present study compares the density and spatial distribution of CD68⁺ and CD163⁺ macrophages between intratumoral and peritumoral compartments in OSCC of the tongue and lip.Materials and methods Data from 112 patients with a verified OSCC diagnosis were included in this study. For the comparative morphological analysis, two core groups were formed: (a) Group I (n = 84), patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma (pT1) of the tongue; (b) Group II (n = 28), patients with Squamous Cell Carcinoma (pT1) of the lip. Immunohistochemistry was performed according to standard protocols.Results Tongue OSCC was characterized by the predominant accumulation of both CD68⁺ and CD163⁺ macrophages in the peritumoral stroma compared with the intratumoral zones (34.2 ± 8.1 vs. 48.1 ± 6.4 cells/mm²). In contrast, in lip OSCC, a higher density of CD68⁺ macrophages was observed in the intratumoral compartment, whereas the number of CD163⁺ macrophages remained considerably lower in both the intratumoral (51.1 ± 4.3 vs. 9.4 ± 2.1 cells/mm²) and peritumoral stroma of the tumor.Conclusions These findings demonstrate that tongue and lip OSCC harbor distinct patterns of macrophage distribution and polarization, underscoring the role of the immune microenvironment in the biological heterogeneity of OSCC and warranting further investigation into macrophage subtype-specific prognostic markers.
SN - 2079-9721
ER -