CD163 expression in M2 macrophages of primary and metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Recent research has focused on the role of tumour microenvironment and its components, specifically M2 macrophages, in tumour behaviour. This study investigated the percentage of M2 macrophage expression in primary head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HPSCC) tumours and their associated lymph node metastases. CD163 immunohistochemical labelling was used to assess CD163 expression levels in 20 HPSCC samples categorised into four groups based on primary tumour grade and lymph node metastases.

The study found a statistically significant correlation between increased CD163-positive M2 macrophage expression and higher histological grade at the primary tumour site. However, this expression was not significantly correlated with lymph node metastases. The findings suggest that HPSCC samples with higher CD163 expression may have a worse prognosis, warranting further research to confirm this correlation.

The study received ethical approval from the scientific committee at Faculty of Dentistry, Damascus University, and was published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.