Sato Junichiro, Fujiwara Masachika, Kawakami Tomohiro, Sumiishi Ayumi, Sakata Seiji, Sakamoto Atsuhiko, Kurata Atsushi
Kyorin University Hospital, Tokyo.
Oncol Lett. 2011 Nov;2(6):1025-1032. doi: 10.3892/ol.2011.383. Epub 2011 Aug 17.
The majority of thymomas are histologically characterized by tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. Mature dendritic cells (DCs) are known to assemble lymphocytes through antigen presentation to T lymphocytes. Fascin, a 55-kDa actin-binding protein and a known marker for mature DCs, regulates filaments necessary for the formation of filopodia in cell migration. Moreover, fascin expression in various epithelial neoplasms has recently been reported to be associated with invasion of tumor cells and clinically aggressive manifestations. In the present study, we investigated fascin expression immunohistochemically in tissues of thymomas and thymic carcinomas surgically resected at our institute. A total of 34 thymomas and 5 thymic carcinomas were included. The amount and immunohistochemical intensity of both fascin(+) DCs and tumor epithelium were counted and assessed, and the clinicopathological data were also scored. Statistical analyses revealed that the amount of fascin(+) DCs with the formation of clusters was associated with lymphocyte-rich variants (p=0.002) and cortical differentiation (p=0.037) of thymoma with complication from myasthenia gravis (p=0.002). The quantity of fascin(+) epithelium was associated with a strong intensity of fascin in infiltrating DCs (p=0.002) with the formation of clusters (p=0.002) and favorable prognosis, as assessed by the Masaoka staging system (p=0.001). The amount of infiltrating DCs (p=0.024) and fascin(+) epithelium were lower in thymic carcinoma. It was concluded that fascin(+) epithelium may induce tumor immunity through the surveillance activity of fascin(+) DCs in thymic neoplasms, thus improving prognosis.
大多数胸腺瘤在组织学上的特征是有肿瘤浸润淋巴细胞。已知成熟树突状细胞（DCs）通过向T淋巴细胞呈递抗原来聚集淋巴细胞。Fascin是一种55kDa的肌动蛋白结合蛋白，也是成熟DCs的已知标志物，它调节细胞迁移中丝状伪足形成所需的细丝。此外，最近有报道称，Fascin在各种上皮性肿瘤中的表达与肿瘤细胞的侵袭及临床侵袭性表现有关。在本研究中，我们采用免疫组织化学方法研究了在我院手术切除的胸腺瘤和胸腺癌组织中Fascin的表达情况。共纳入34例胸腺瘤和5例胸腺癌。对Fascin(+) DCs和肿瘤上皮的数量及免疫组织化学强度进行计数和评估，并对临床病理数据进行评分。统计分析显示，形成簇状的Fascin(+) DCs的数量与富含淋巴细胞的变体（p=0.002）、胸腺瘤的皮质分化（p=0.037）以及合并重症肌无力的情况（p=0.002）相关。Fascin(+)上皮的数量与浸润性DCs中Fascin的高强度表达（p=0.002）、形成簇状（p=0.0个02）以及根据Masaoka分期系统评估的良好预后（p=0.001）相关。胸腺癌中浸润性DCs（p=0.024）和Fascin(+)上皮的数量较低。得出的结论是，Fascin(+)上皮可能通过Fascin(+) DCs在胸腺肿瘤中的监视活性诱导肿瘤免疫，从而改善预后。
