Lores B, García-Estevez J M, Arias C
Departamento de Biologia Funcional y Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Vigo, 36200 Vigo, Spain.
Int J Mol Med. 1998 Apr;1(4):729-33. doi: 10.3892/ijmm.1.4.729.
This review examines the crucial role of regional lymph nodes (RLN) in defense against tumor progression. RLN are one of the first major components of the immune system to come into contact with tumor cells or tumor-cell products and are important in the generation of tumor-directed immune responses. Involvement of RLN by tumor cells is a prognostic index of survival and a biological indicator of a more distant metastatic disease. Enlargement of lymph nodes as a consequence of the increase in the number of lymphoid cells, is a common finding in humans. These changes of cellular organization display the most decisive evidence of the existence of an immune response within a draining lymph node. The variety of cells mediating immune response to tumors are summarized briefly. The lymphocyte subpopulations involved reflect the nature of the response and may determine the outcome of the tumor-host interaction. The composition of the lymphocyte subpopulations can be recognized in tumor-draining lymph nodes by distinctive surface-membrane markers assessable by flow cytometry. In human patients with solid tumors limited quantification of the lymphocyte subpopulations within RLN has been carried out using this technique and the results indicated that an increase in B lymphocytes in tumor-reactive lymph nodes is marked in the adenocarcinomas (colon and breast) while in other tumors, such as melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma, this increase in B lymphocytes is less pronounced. The increased number of B lymphocytes in the reactive lymph nodes suggests the existence of an immune response involving interactions between T and B cells. B lymphocytes expression of CD80 appears to increase in some reactive lymph nodes to adenocarcinomas, possibly indicating the state of activation of CD80+ B cells, and their role as antigen-presenting cells. Any improvement in the antitumor activity of RLN would be important in the immunotherapy of cancer patients. The ability to generate a large number of tumor-reactive T lymphocytes is a critical requirement for adoptive immunotherapy. Tumor-draining lymph nodes (TDLN) are an excellent source of tumor-reactive T lymphocytes and the adoptive transfer of these cells is capable of mediating the regression of tumors established both in the lung and in the brain. Although cancers elicit a vigorous immune response during the early part of their growth, the immune response is soon downregulated, permitting progressive cancer growth. Furthermore, there are date suggesting the existence of immunosuppressive mechanisms within RLN in the antitumor response. However, there are no yet conclusive data concerning the characteristics of the response or its effectiveness.
本综述探讨了区域淋巴结（RLN）在抵御肿瘤进展中的关键作用。RLN是免疫系统最早接触肿瘤细胞或肿瘤细胞产物的主要组成部分之一，在产生针对肿瘤的免疫反应中起重要作用。肿瘤细胞累及RLN是生存的预后指标，也是远处转移性疾病的生物学指标。由于淋巴细胞数量增加导致淋巴结肿大，这在人类中很常见。这些细胞组织的变化显示了引流淋巴结内存在免疫反应的最决定性证据。简要总结了介导肿瘤免疫反应的各种细胞。所涉及的淋巴细胞亚群反映了反应的性质，并可能决定肿瘤与宿主相互作用的结果。通过流式细胞术可评估的独特表面膜标记物，可在肿瘤引流淋巴结中识别淋巴细胞亚群的组成。在患有实体瘤的人类患者中，已使用该技术对RLN内的淋巴细胞亚群进行了有限的定量分析，结果表明，在腺癌（结肠癌和乳腺癌）中，肿瘤反应性淋巴结中的B淋巴细胞明显增加，而在其他肿瘤，如黑色素瘤和鳞状细胞癌中，B淋巴细胞的这种增加不太明显。反应性淋巴结中B淋巴细胞数量的增加表明存在涉及T细胞和B细胞相互作用的免疫反应。在一些腺癌反应性淋巴结中，B淋巴细胞CD80的表达似乎增加，这可能表明CD80+B细胞的激活状态及其作为抗原呈递细胞的作用。RLN抗肿瘤活性的任何改善在癌症患者的免疫治疗中都很重要。产生大量肿瘤反应性T淋巴细胞的能力是过继性免疫治疗的关键要求。肿瘤引流淋巴结（TDLN）是肿瘤反应性T淋巴细胞的极佳来源，这些细胞的过继性转移能够介导在肺和脑中建立的肿瘤消退。尽管癌症在生长早期会引发强烈的免疫反应，但免疫反应很快就会下调，从而使癌症得以进行性生长。此外，有数据表明在抗肿瘤反应中RLN内存在免疫抑制机制。然而，关于该反应的特征或其有效性尚无确凿数据。
