The Presence of Small Nerve Fibers in the Tumor Microenvironment as Predictive Biomarker of Oncological Outcome Following Partial Hepatectomy for Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma

Cancers

Jakob Nikolas Kather¹  Shivan Sivakumar²  Shiva Boroojerdi³  Zoltan Czigany³  Simone Appinger³  Dong Liu³  Xiuxiang Tan³  Tom Florian Ulmer³  Lara Rosaline Heij³  Ulf Peter Neumann³  Sven Arke Lang³  Mika Rosin³  Jan Bednarsch³  Marcel den Dulk⁴  Mariëlle Coolsen⁴  Nadine Therese Gaisa⁵  Edgar Dahl⁵ 

[1] Department of Medicine III, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany;Department of Oncology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK;Department of Surgery and Transplantation, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany;Department of Surgery, Maastricht University Medical Center (MUMC), 6229 HX Maastricht, The Netherlands;Institute of Pathology, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, 52074 Aachen, Germany;

关键词: intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma;    nerve fibers;    tumor microenvironment;    oncological outcome;    biomarker;   

DOI  :  10.3390/cancers13153661

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The oncological role of the density of nerve fibers (NFs) in the tumor microenvironment (TME) in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) remains to be determined. Therefore, data of 95 iCCA patients who underwent hepatectomy between 2010 and 2019 was analyzed regarding NFs and long-term outcome. Extensive group comparisons were carried out and the association of cancer-specific survival (CSS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) with NFs were assessed using Cox regression models. Patients with iCCA and NFs showed a median CSS of 51 months (5-year-CSS = 47%) compared to 27 months (5-year-CSS = 21%) in patients without NFs (p = 0.043 log rank). Further, NFs (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.39, p = 0.002) and N-category (HR = 2.36, p = 0.010) were identified as independent predictors of CSS. Patients with NFs and without nodal metastases displayed a mean CSS of 89 months (5-year-CSS = 62%), while patients without NFs or with nodal metastases but not both showed a median CCS of 27 months (5-year-CSS = 25%) and patients with both positive lymph nodes and without NFs showed a median CCS of 10 months (5-year-CSS = 0%, p = 0.001 log rank). NFs in the TME are, therefore, a novel and important prognostic biomarker in iCCA patients. NFs alone and in combination with nodal status is suitable to identify iCCA patients at risk of poor oncological outcomes following curative-intent surgery.

【 授权许可】

Unknown