Clinical significance of immune cell infiltration within gallbladder cancer

Abstract

To investigate the pathophysiological significance of infiltrating antitumour immune cells, we evaluated the quantity of immune cell intratumoral infiltration in 110 surgically resected gallbladder specimens by immunohistochemistry. We examined 45 cases of gallbladder cancer and 65 cases of benign gallbladder diseases for CD4 þ T cells, CD8 þ T cells, natural killer cells (NKCs), and dendritic cells (DCs). High levels of CD4 þ T cell, CD8 þ T cell, NKC, and DC infiltration were recognised in 51.1% (23 out of 45), 37.8% (17 out of 45), 33.3% (15 out of 45), and 48.9% (22 out of 45) of cancer specimens, respectively. High numbers of infiltrating CD4 þ and CD8 þ T cells correlated with decreasing tumour invasion, and high numbers of infiltrating DCs correlated with decreasing lymph-node tumour metastasis. Furthermore, increased infiltration of CD4 þ and CD8 þ T cells and DCs exhibited a significant correlation with prolonged survival. NKC infiltration, however, did not correlate with any of the clinicopathological factors examined. Additionally, high levels of infiltration were not identified in specimens from benign diseases, consistent with the cancerspecific activity of CD4 þ and CD8 þ T cells and DCs. In this study, we demonstrate that CD4 þ and CD8 þ tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte and DCs, but not NKCs, are important factors in the accurate prognosis of survival after surgical removal of gallbladder adenocarcinoma.

Concurrent infiltration by CD8+ T cells and CD4+ T cells is a favourable prognostic factor in non-small-cell lung carcinoma

“…oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma Nakakubo et al, 2003;Oshikiri et al, 2003;Fukunaga et al, 2004). However, in NSCLC, the role of TILs for the survival of patients is still controversial.…”

“…Among TILs, most CD8 þ T cells are cytotoxic T lymphocytes that recognise particular tumour-associated antigens presented on MHC class I molecules at the cancer cell surface and possess the ability to destroy cancer cells directly. The favourable prognostic significance of the presence of tumour-infiltrating CD8 þ T cells was previously reported in a variety of cancers, including colorectal cancer, oesophageal cancer, pancreatic cancer, bile duct cancer and gallbladder cancer (Naito et al, 1998;Nakano et al, 2001;Schumacher et al, 2001;Cho et al, 2003;Nakakubo et al, 2003;Oshikiri et al, 2003;Fukunaga et al, 2004). In NSCLC, however, the relationship between patient prognosis and the presence of TILs is still obscure.…”

Phenotype and Function of T Cells Infiltrating Visceral Metastases from Gastrointestinal Cancers and Melanoma: Implications for Adoptive Cell Transfer Therapy

“…Indirect evidence suggests that T cell immunity may participate in controlling disease progression for GI adenocarcinomas arising in the esophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver, bile ducts, gallbladder, colon, and rectum (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18). A redefinition of prognostic staging is being proposed based on the density of the TILs found in primary tumors, among which colorectal cancer has been studied most extensively (19).…”

The tumor immune microenvironment in octogenarians with stage I non-small cell lung cancer

“…Published studies have indicated differences in number of tumor-infiltrating immune cells among broad age groups in some solid malignancies. 19,[24][25][26][27] However, these studies were not designed with the explicit purpose of evaluating immune cell infiltration with a specific focus on older patients.…”