Prevalence and prognostic significance of tumor-associated tissue eosinophilia in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

BACKGROUND. Tumor-associated tissue eosinophilia (TATE) has been associated with an improved prognosis in a variety of neoplasms. METHODS. Diagnostic biopsy specimens from 96 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) were reviewed for the presence of TATE by an observer blinded to the patients' clinical histories. Comparisons between patients with and without TATE with respect to the probabilities of local recurrence, distant metastasis, and survival were performed using the log rank test on Kaplan-Meier product-limit estimates and the Cox proportional hazards model. RESULTS. The prevalence of TATE in these patients was 32%, and was not significantly associated with local recurrence, distant metastasis, or survival. CONCLUSIONS. These results are discordant with those of studies in other tumor models, although comparison is hampered by varying definitions of TATE. The differing results may be due to variations in the degree of activation of the eosinophils present in TATE in different tumors. (C) 1996 American Cancer Society.