Ishigami S, Natsugoe S, Hokita S, Xiangming C, Aridome K, Iwashige H, Tokuda K, Nakajo A, Miyazono F, Aikou T
First Department of Surgery, Kagoshima University School of Medicine, Japan.
Clin Cancer Res. 2000 Jul;6(7):2611-7.
The status and role of immunocytes and dendritic cells in regional lymph nodes in patients with gastric cancer are examined in this study. Forty-nine patients with gastric cancer who underwent curative resection were enrolled in the present study. These patients had no lymph node metastases according to a histological examination. The infiltration of natural killer (NK) cells, dendritic cells, and MIB-1-positive immunocytes was investigated. Based on the Japanese Classification of Gastric Carcinoma, regional lymph nodes were divided into three compartments: (a) compartment 1 (lymph node station numbers 1-6); (b) compartment 2 (lymph node station numbers 7-12); and (c) compartment 3 (lymph node station numbers 14 and 16). Dendritic cells and MIB-1-positive immunocytes infiltrated compartment 1 lymph nodes in increased numbers compared with the lymph nodes of compartments 2 or 3 (P < 0.05). Conversely, intranodal NK cell infiltration did not differ significantly among the three compartments. The incidence of intranodal dendritic and MIB-1-positive cell infiltration in patients with submucosal gastric cancer was significantly higher than in patients with tumors that invaded beyond the muscularis propria. The decreased expression of these immunological markers correlated well with recurrent disease, regardless of tumor depth. The immunocyte level is higher in lymph nodes near the primary tumor (compartment 1) than in those that are distant from the tumor (compartments 2 and 3). This pertains to all three markers, i.e., NK, dendritic, and MIB-1-positive cells. Unlike dendritic and MIB-1-positive cells, intratumoral infiltration of NK cells did not correlate well with either lymph node compartment or the depth of tumor invasion. The degree of NK cell infiltration may be directly associated with antitumor effects, especially in compartment 1. A decrease in all three markers is associated with tumor recurrence.
本研究检测了胃癌患者区域淋巴结中免疫细胞和树突状细胞的状态及作用。本研究纳入了49例行根治性切除术的胃癌患者。根据组织学检查，这些患者无淋巴结转移。研究了自然杀伤（NK）细胞、树突状细胞和MIB-1阳性免疫细胞的浸润情况。根据日本胃癌分类法，区域淋巴结分为三个区域：（a）区域1（淋巴结站号1-6）；（b）区域2（淋巴结站号7-12）；（c）区域3（淋巴结站号14和16）。与区域2或区域3的淋巴结相比，区域1淋巴结中浸润的树突状细胞和MIB-1阳性免疫细胞数量增加（P<0.05）。相反，三个区域内淋巴结内NK细胞浸润无显著差异。黏膜下胃癌患者淋巴结内树突状细胞和MIB-1阳性细胞浸润的发生率显著高于肿瘤侵犯超过固有肌层的患者。无论肿瘤深度如何，这些免疫标志物表达的降低与疾病复发密切相关。原发肿瘤附近淋巴结（区域1）中的免疫细胞水平高于远离肿瘤的淋巴结（区域2和区域3）。这适用于所有三种标志物，即NK、树突状和MIB-1阳性细胞。与树突状细胞和MIB-1阳性细胞不同，NK细胞的肿瘤内浸润与淋巴结区域或肿瘤浸润深度均无良好相关性。NK细胞浸润程度可能与抗肿瘤作用直接相关，尤其是在区域1。所有三种标志物的降低均与肿瘤复发相关。
