Perfil imunológico salivar e sobrevida de pacientes de câncer de cabeça e pescoço submetidos à radioterapia: uma análise longitudinal retrospectiva

Abstract

Immunoinflammatory responses via cellular effectors and their products can target and eliminate newly formed neoplastic cells by recognizing tumor-associated antigens. Radiotherapy (RdT) is a widely used therapeutic modality for managing Head and Neck Cancer (HNC). In addition to causing direct cell death, it can release compartmentalized proteins and molecules with antigenic properties and capable of coordinate immune responses, potentially aiding in the eradication of neoplastic cells. This study intended to analyze the concentrations of inflammatory biomarkers from HNC patients submitted to RdT and correlating it to the post-treatment survival. For this, saliva samples from forty-eight patients with HNC were collected at three periods according to the RdT aiming inflammatory biomarkers quantification. After an average follow-up of two years, the health status of all forty-eight patients was updated, leading to the formation of two groups with twenty-four subjects each: survivors and deceased. Statistical analysis was performed to compare biomarker levels within and between the groups. The results indicated a statistically significant variation only for the survivor’s group and specially for IL-1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-17, IFNa2 and TNF-α during the treatment. An ascending curve was observed from the beginning of the RdT (T0) to the 25th day of treatment (T3), followed by a descending curve from T3 to the 35th day after the last session of RdT (T5). Furthermore, TNF-α and IL-4 also showed a significant lower level for the survivor’s group at the T5. Thus, regarding each biomarker’s functions in the immunoinflammatory responses, their significant variations likely reflect an immunoreactivity associated with the RdT, correlating with improved outcomes following antineoplastic therapy. Hereafter, future studies are needed to validate these findings and further explore the role of these biomarkers in immunoinflammatory responses during RdT