TLR5 and TLR7 are differentially expressed in human papillomavirus-positive and negative base of tongue squamous cell carcinoma, and TLR7 may have an independent prognostic influence

Figures & data

Table 1. Patient and tumor characteristics.

Patient and tumor characteristics		HPV + BOTSCC(N = 49)		HPV + BOTSCC(N = 28)		p value
		N	%	N	%
Age	Mean (years)	62		62		.971*
	Median (years)	62		64
	Range (years)	42–82		32–85
Sex	Female	14	29%	10	36%	.517§
	Male	35	71%	18	64%
Tumor differentiation	Poorly	36	73%	15	54%	.055§
	Moderately	9	18%	11	39%	(poorly vs.
	Well	3	6%	2	7%	moderate/well)
	Undefined	1	2%	0	0%
T stage (Tumor size)	T1	15	31%	5	18%	.005§
	T2	17	35%	4	14%	(T1 & T2 vs.
	T3	3	6%	6	21%	T3 & T4)
	T4	14	29%	13	46%
N stage (Nodal disease)	N0	9	18%	10	36%	.739§
	N1	10	20%	2	7%	(N0 & N1 vs.
	N2a	8	16%	2	7%	N2 & N3)
	N2b	11	22%	6	21%
	N2c	9	18%	6	21%
	N3	2	4%	2	7%
M stage (Distant metastasis)	M0	46	94%	27	96%	1¶
	M1	2	4%	1	4%	(M0 vs. M1)
	MX	1	2%	0	0%
Tumor stage (AJCCs 8th edition)	I	12	24%	3	11%	.001§
	II	21	43%	5	18%	(stage I & II vs.
	III	14	29%	2	7%	stage III & VI)
	IV	1	2%	0	0%
	IVa	0	0%	16	57%
	IVb	0	0%	1	4%
	IVc	0	0%	1	4%
	Unknown	1	2%	0	0%
Treatment	Induction chemotherapy and radiation (conventional/accelerated)	22	45%	9	32%	.764§
	Radiation only (conventional/accelerated)	25	51%	12	43%	(chemo/radio vs.
	None/surgery/palliative	2	4%	7	25%	radio)
Smoking	Never	22	45%	5	18%	<.0001§
	Former (>15 years ago)	11	22%	1	4%	(never/>15 years
	Former (<15 years ago)	11	22%	1	4%	ago vs. current/
	Current upon diagnosis	5	10%	21	75%	<15 years ago)
TLR 5 membrane expression	Absent	29	59%	8	29%	.0002§
	Weak	12	24%	4	14%	(absent/weak vs.
	Medium	3	6%	9	32%	medium/strong)
	Strong	5	10%	7	25%
TLR 7 nuclear membrane and nuclear expression	Absent	18	37%	17	61%	.012¶
	Weak	14	29%	9	32%	(absent/weak vs.
	Medium	13	27%	2	7%	medium/strong)
	Strong	4	8%	0	0%
CD8+ tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) count	Median (number of TILs)	39.7		8.1		.009*
	Range (number of TILs)	1.0–414.8		0.1–101.9
CD4+ tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) count	Median (number of TILs)	16.7		8.5		.018*
	Range (number of TILs)	0.0–303.7		0.0–35.0

* Two-tailed student's t-test, comparison of means.

§ Chi-square test, Pearson.

¶ Two-tailed Fisher's exact test.

Figure 1. Kaplan–Meier curves with 3-year disease-specific survival (DSS) and 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) for patients with HPV⁺ BOTSCC stratified for absent/weak vs. medium/strong TLR5 expression (A and B) and absent/weak vs. medium/strong TLR7 expression (C and D). Differences in survival was analyzed with the log-rank test. No differences in survival were observed (TLR5 DSS: p = .54; TLR5 DFS: p = .61; TLR7 DSS: p = .051; TLR7 DFS: p = .51).