Figure 5

Clinical relevance and prognostic value of IL-17+ cells. (A and B) Serial whole tumor sections from 87 HCC patients were used and representative cases of immunostaining of IL-17, p-STAT3, CD34 (MVD) and CD66b (neutrophils) are shown (200× magnification). Significant positive correlations were found between the intratumoral IL-17+ cell density and MVD, as well as between the densities of intratumoral neutrophils and IL-17+ cells. (C and D) 323 HCC patients contained in TMAs were classified into three groups: group I, high expression of both IL-17+ cells and p-STAT3; group II, high expression of one of the two markers; and group III, low expression of both markers. The intratumoral IL-17+ cell density significantly was correlated with p-STAT3 expression in this cohort as well. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival and cumulative recurrence rates in group I were significantly lower than those in groups II and III. Correlations between immunostaining parameters were analyzed by Spearman's rho coefficient test. The cumulative recurrence and survival rates were determined by the Kaplan-Meier method (log-rank test).