Association between NF-κB Activation in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells and Late Skin and Subcutaneous Fibrosis following Radiotherapy

Figure 3

Distribution of NF-κB p65 by immunofluorescence before and after irradiation in PBMCs from HNSCC patients. NF-κB p65 immunofluorescence staining was successfully performed in the PBMCs in 12 patients. Shown are representative images (a). Arrows show p65 in the PBMCs, from dense staining in the cytoplasm before irradiation to dense staining in the nuclei at 1 hour after ex vivo irradiation with 2 Gy. Scale bars: 50 μm. (b) Automate image analysis of nuclear: cytoplasmic p65 expression ratio of irradiated (1 hour after irradiation with 2 Gy) PMBCs in patients with ≥2 versus those with <2 grade late skin and subcutaneous fibrosis. ^aCrude value from the Wilcoxon rank-sum test. ^bAdjusted value from the multiple linear regression model adjusted for age, sex, smoking history, alcohol consumption, TNM stage, chemotherapy treatment, and surgery.

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