Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma induces an innate systemic inflammation, affected by the size of the tumour and the lymph node spread

Objectives Inflammation is known to be associated with the progression of cancer. The study was designed to characterise the systemic inflammation in patients with oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC) and investigate its relation to tumour size, ability to metastasise and HPV status. Materials and Methods Blood was obtained from 58 patients with OPSCC and 90 healthy controls and analysed with leucocyte differential count. Results The patients with OPSCC displayed an increased number of neutrophils and monocytes, whereas the lymphocytes were suppressed compared to the healthy controls. The neutrophils‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the monocyte‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (MLR) were calculated, and patients with large tumours exhibited high NLR and MLR. Further, patients with regional lymph node spread displayed a low NLR and MLR. Patients with HPV‐positive tumours (n = 48) had a lower NLR than the patients (n = 8) with HPV‐negative tumours. Conclusion This study demonstrates that patients with OPSCC have an increased systemic inflammation that is affected by the HPV status, the size of the tumour and lymph node spread.