Expression of IL-17 with tumor budding as a prognostic marker in oral squamous cell carcinoma

We evaluated the relationship between IL-17 expression and tumor budding in the oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tumor invasion front (TIF). We also analyzed the correlation between OSCC prognosis and the co-expression of IL-17 and tumor budding. We obtained tumor tissues, tumor margins, and adjacent normal tissues from a total of 80 patients with OSCC. We measured IL-17 expression by ELISA and performed hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and immunohistochemical staining to evaluate the presentation of tumor budding and IL-17 expression in the TIF. IL-17 expression was significantly increased in the tumor tissues and margins compared with that in the normal tissues, which was confirmed by immunohistochemical staining. There were correlations between IL-17-positive tumor budding and T classification, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, clinical stage, and recurrence. In a multivariate survival analysis, the IL-17-positive tumor budding, besides tumor budding alone, was highly correlated with prognosis. Our results demonstrate a positive relationship between IL-17 expression and tumor budding in the OSCC TIF. IL-17 combined with tumor budding can serve as a valuable predictor of prognosis for patients with OSCC.