Departments of Pathology, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
Cancer Manag Res. 2013 Aug 30;5:293-9. doi: 10.2147/CMAR.S48942. eCollection 2013.
The microenvironment of astrocytomas includes infiltrative inflammatory cells that are dynamic in nature, possibly reflecting tumor biology. We evaluated the inflammatory cell infiltrate in astrocytic tumors aiming for a better understanding of their immunobiology.
Immunohistochemical expression of CD68, CD3, and CD20 was investigated in 21 glioblastomas, 21 anaplastic astrocytomas, 13 diffuse astrocytomas, and 18 pilocytic astrocytomas. The inflammatory infiltrate was classified based on microanatomic location as perivascular and intratumoral, and subsequently graded semiquantitatively.
Perivascularly, CD68-positive infiltrate was noted in 71.4% of glioblastomas compared with 14.3% of anaplastic astrocytomas (P = 0.0001), 7.7% of diffuse astrocytomas (P = 0.0001), and 33.3% of pilocytic astrocytomas (P = 0.017). Intratumorally, 85.7% of glioblastomas exhibited CD68-positive infiltrate compared with 42.9% of anaplastic astrocytomas (P = 0.004), 38.5% of diffuse astrocytomas (P = 0.008), and 33.3% of pilocytic astrocytomas (P = 0.001). Among diffusely infiltrating astrocytomas, intratumoral CD3-positive infiltrate was only associated with glioblastoma. A CD20-positive infiltrate was only detected in the perivascular space of a single case of diffuse astrocytoma.
These data indicate a distinct immune profile in the glioblastoma microenvironment primarily related to the prevalence of macrophages. Thus, novel glioblastoma therapies should address this key CD68-positive population and its possible role in generating an antitumor immune response.
星形细胞瘤的微环境包括浸润性炎症细胞，这些细胞具有动态特性，可能反映了肿瘤生物学。我们评估了星形细胞瘤中的炎症细胞浸润，旨在更好地了解其免疫生物学。
在 21 例胶质母细胞瘤、21 例间变性星形细胞瘤、13 例弥漫性星形细胞瘤和 18 例毛细胞星形细胞瘤中，研究了 CD68、CD3 和 CD20 的免疫组织化学表达。根据微解剖位置将炎症浸润分类为血管周围和肿瘤内，并随后进行半定量分级。
血管周围，CD68 阳性浸润在胶质母细胞瘤中占 71.4%，而在间变性星形细胞瘤中占 14.3%（P = 0.0001），在弥漫性星形细胞瘤中占 7.7%（P = 0.0001），在毛细胞星形细胞瘤中占 33.3%（P = 0.017）。肿瘤内，85.7%的胶质母细胞瘤存在 CD68 阳性浸润，而间变性星形细胞瘤占 42.9%（P = 0.004），弥漫性星形细胞瘤占 38.5%（P = 0.008），毛细胞星形细胞瘤占 33.3%（P = 0.001）。在弥漫浸润性星形细胞瘤中，肿瘤内 CD3 阳性浸润仅与胶质母细胞瘤有关。仅在弥漫性星形细胞瘤的单个病例中检测到 CD20 阳性浸润。
这些数据表明，胶质母细胞瘤微环境中存在独特的免疫谱，主要与巨噬细胞的普遍性有关。因此，新型胶质母细胞瘤疗法应针对这一关键的 CD68 阳性人群及其在产生抗肿瘤免疫反应中的可能作用。
