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Updated: Aug 6, 2026
Establishment of a Clinic-based Biorepository
Published on: May 29, 2017
Clinicopathological Significance of Interleukin-33 Expression in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Lower Lip
İbrahim Arslan1, Canan Sadullahoğlu2, Rezarta Taga Senirli3
1Assistant Professor, Department of Ear, Nose, and Throat, Antalya Education and Research Hospital, Antalya, Turkey.
Background:
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the lower lip is the most common lip malignancy. Interleukin-33 (IL-33) is an inflammatory cytokine implicated in tumor biology, but its role in lower lip SCC remains unclear.
Purpose:
To measure the association between IL-33 expression and clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcomes in lower lip SCC.
Study Design, Setting, Sample:
Retrospective cohort study at Antalya Education and Research Hospital. Included: patients with lower lip SCC treated surgically between 2017 and 2022. Excluded: positive surgical margins, prior chemotherapy or radiotherapy, second primary tumors, and distant metastasis at diagnosis.
Predictor Variable:
Nuclear IL-33 expression categorized as positive (>20% of tumor cells showing nuclear staining) or negative (≤20%).
Main Outcome Variable(S):
Primary outcome: overall survival (OS).
Secondary Outcome:
local recurrence (LR).
Covariates:
Demographic variables included age and sex. Tumor-related variables included tumor stage, nodal stage, histological grade, and depth of invasion (DOI).
Analyses:
Pearson χ2 and Fisher's exact tests for categorical variables; Mann-Whitney U test for DOI. Survival analyses: Kaplan-Meier with log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards regression. A P value < .05 considered statistically significant.
Results:
The study sample was composed of 76 subjects with a mean age of 71.1 (standard deviation, 13.4) years; 19 subjects (25.0%) were female and 57 (75.0%) were male. Median follow-up was 60 months (interquartile range, 25 to 84). The estimated 5-year OS rate was 58.5%. The estimated 5-year OS rates were 68.6 and 50.5% in the IL-33-positive and IL-33-negative groups, respectively, with no statistically significant difference (log-rank P = .1). IL-33 expression was statistically significantly associated with LR; recurrence occurred in 21.3% of IL-33-negative patients and in none of the IL-33-positive patients (P = .01). Patients with IL-33-positive tumors had statistically significantly better LR-free survival (log-rank P = .01). In multivariable analysis, age >70 years (P = .001) and increasing DOI (P = .003) were independently associated with OS.
Conclusions And Relevance:
IL-33 expression was not statistically significantly associated with OS in patients with SCC of the lower lip. However, IL-33 expression was associated with earlier T stage, lower DOI, and better LR-free survival, suggesting a potential association with less-aggressive tumor behavior.
