Overexpression of CD73 is associated with recurrence and poor prognosis of gingivobuccal oral cancer as revealed by transcriptome and deep immune profiling of paired tumor and margin tissues.

High infiltration of anti-tumor immune cells in both tumors and margins results in good prognosis, while in patients with minimal infiltration in tumors in spite of high infiltration in margins results in poor prognosis. Targeted CD73 immune-checkpoint inhibition may improve clinical outcome.