Neutrophil phagocytosis by tumor cells—A cytological study

Abstract

Cell cannibalism is defined as the ability of a cell to phagocytose another cell. Malignant tumor cells may develop phagocytic property and demonstrate phagocytosis of own cells or cells of other series like neutrophils and lymphocytes. We report 11 cases in which the tumor cells showed evidence of neutrophil phagocytosis/emperipolesis on FNAC smears. Cases of malignancies diagnosed on FNA over a period of 1 year were retrieved, and smears were examined for neutrophil phagocytosis by tumor cells. These cases were classified according to type and differentiation of malignancy. The cytomorphological features and background inflammation were also studied at both primary and metastatic site. Of 362 malignant cases diagnosed on FNA smears, in 11 cases (3.09%), tumor cells showed neutrophil phagocytosis. The background showed increase in polymorphs in all cases. All the cases were associated with metastasis at presentation and were high-grade tumors cytologically. There were three cases of anaplastic carcinoma, two cases of adenocarcinoma, two cases of carcinoma breast, two cases of anaplastic non-Hodgkins lymphoma, one case each of squamous cell carcinoma and small cell carcinoma from larynx and lung, respectively. Phagocytic activity by tumor cells is uncommon and usually seen in high-grade/poorly differentiated malignancies. It is frequently associated with metastatic disease. On cytology smears, true phagocytosis of neutrophils by tumor cells has to be distinguished from superimposed inflammatory cells from the background. The tumor cells also need to be distinguished from histiocytes displaying phagocytosis.

Morphologic and immunohistochemical characterization of granulomas in the nucleotide oligomerization domain 2–related disorders Blau syndrome and Crohn disease

“…This is clearly different from the granulomatous morphology described in patients with adult sarcoidosis, which typically shows a thin wall of lymphocytes and perigranulomatous sclerosis. 20 In granulomas from patients with BS, we documented emperipolesis, a term coined by Humble, Jayne, and Pulvertaft to describe the ''inside round about wandering'' of lymphocytes within other cells, 21,22 and we found it to be often associated with MGC death. In granulomas with MGC death, a mild degree of fibrinoid necrosis and intragranulomatous fibrosis were also noted.…”

“…[21][22][23][24] It has been reported in neither adult sarcoidosis nor CD. The significance of the observed emperipolesis and the relation to MGC death in patients with BS awaits further study.…”

Parotid gland adenocarcinoma in a cow: case report

“…This finding has been studied extensively in human pathology (Fais, 2007;Singhal et al, 2011), it is not unique to tumor cells and can also be performed by nonphagocytic cells (Klionsky, 2004). Cannibalism is observed mainly in carcinomas and, in humans, it is associated with metastasis and poor prognosis (Fais, 2007;Singhal et al, 2011). However, in domestic animals, there are still few reports and studies on this phenomenon in cytological tumors samples (Melendez-Lazo et al, 2015).…”

Nano-hole induction by nanodiamond and nanoplatinum liquid, DPV576, reverses multidrug resistance in human myeloid leukemia (HL60/AR)

“…48,49 Cancer cells can also phagocytize other cells such as lymphocytes 50,51 and neutrophils. 52 In addition, phagocytosis of one tumor cell by another tumor cell has been reported 53 and is referred to as cannibalism. In the current study, we detected the presence of holes in the control untreated HL60/AR cells ( Figure 4A) via AFM, which may be attributed to their cannibalistic activity.…”