Hiroyuki Metsugi

Dissociation Between T Helper Type 1 and Type 2 Differentiation and Cytokine Production in Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes in Patients with Lung Cancer

Abstract We recently reported the balance of T helper type 1 (Th1) cells and type 2 (Th2) cells in patients with lung carcinomas. This study was conducted to investigate their activity and role in tumors, which remain unclear. We determined the population of lymphocytes with intracellular interferon (IFN)-γ or interleukin (IL)-4 by flow cytometry, and investigated cytokine production using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 22 patients with non-small cell lung cancer. The IFN-γ-positive subset showed a significant increase in the number of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) compared with the peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) (PBL, 13.8% ± 1.5%; TIL, 34.3% ± 3.4%; P < 0.001), and the IL-4 positive subset showed reverse results (PBL, 3.7% ± 0.6%; TIL, 2.1% ± 0.3%; P = 0.037). However, TIL did not produce more IFN-γ than PBL. The results of intracellular IFN-γ analysis and the production of IFN-γ in PBL and TIL were significantly correlated (PBL: n = 22, r = 0.50, P = 0.025; TIL: n = 22, r = 0.44, P = 0.022). The dissociation between Th1 differentiation and IFN-γ production in TIL was one of the host factors influencing the immune anergy against tumors.

Prognostic implication of lymphatic vessel invasion in stage IB (pT2aN0M0) non-small cell lung cancer

PurposeTo clarify the prognostic factors for recently revised stage IB non-small cell lung cancer.MethodsTwenty-six specimens of completely resected stage IB (pT2aN0M0) non-small cell lung cancer were studied. Clinicopathological profiles of the 26 patients, including age, sex, smoking status, tumor size, histology, pleural invasion, and lymphatic and blood vessel invasion, were assessed. Correlation between tumor recurrence and these factors was assessed by statistical analysis.ResultsLymphatic vessel invasion was the only statistically significant factor for postoperative tumor recurrence as assessed by multivariate analysis. Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed a 5-year recurrence-free rate of 77.8% in 26 patients with no lymphatic vessel invasion compared with 28.6% in those with lymphatic vessel invasion.ConclusionLymphatic vessel invasion of cancer cells was indicated as an independent prognostic factor in revised stage IB non-small cell lung cancer.