Inflammatory cell infiltration and survival in squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva

The prognostic significance of tumour infiltration by inflammatory cells in squamous cell carcinoma of the vulva was examined in a cohort of 34 patients surviving without recurrence for at least 5 years after radical surgery, and a comparative cohort of 35 patients who died of their diseases. Overall, heavy inflammatory infiltration correlated with a good prognosis and light infiltration with a poor one, independent of other indices such as differentiation, tumour size and nodal status. IgA-containing cell infiltration also correlated with a good prognosis but the presence of IgA-containing cells did not alone account for all the inflammation in the good prognosis group. An immunological response to the tumour may be influencing prognosis. At a practical level, the extent of inflammation appears, at least in this material, to be as useful a prognostic index as many more conventional ones.