TY - JOUR
T1 - Intraepithelial CD8+ T-cell-count becomes a prognostic factor after a longer follow-up period in human colorectal carcinoma
T2 - Possible association with suppression of micrometastasis
AU - Chiba, T.
AU - Ohtani, H.
AU - Mizoi, T.
AU - Naito, Y.
AU - Sato, E.
AU - Nagura, H.
AU - Ohuchi, A.
AU - Ohuchi, K.
AU - Shiiba, K.
AU - Kurokawa, Y.
AU - Satomi, S.
N1 - Funding Information:
We are grateful to Dr Masaaki Miyazawa, Department of Immunology, Kinki University for critical reading of this manuscript and valuable discussion, and to Dr Yosuke Nishimura, JR Sendai Hospital, for advice on the statistical analyses. This work was supported in part by Grants from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, New York, NY.
PY - 2004/11/1
Y1 - 2004/11/1
N2 - T-cell infiltration into human cancer tissues can be a manifestation of host immune responses to cancer cells. The present study was undertaken to explore the clinicopathoiogical significance of intraepithelial CD8+ T cells using 371 consecutively sampled human colorectal carcinomas. By univariate analysis, we noted that the survival curves by intraepithelial CD8+ T cells became separated only after 1 to 2 years postoperation. Multivariate analyses revealed that the beneficial effect of this factor becomes significant only after a longer (more than 2 year), but not after a shorter (less than 2 year) follow-up period. Furthermore, the number of intraepithelial CD8+ T cells was significantly higher in patients alive for more than 5 years than in patients who either died of cancer after a curative operation or patients who underwent a noncurative operation. Patients' cancer-specific death long after a curative operation is thought to be caused by the growth of micrometastases in other organs or near the primary sites. The effects of intraepithelial CD8+ T cells, therefore, may be mediated by suppression of micrometastasis, rather than suppression of growth in the primary tumour. In conclusion, our data support a hypothesis on the presence of systemic immunosurveillance against micrometastasis of cancer cells.
AB - T-cell infiltration into human cancer tissues can be a manifestation of host immune responses to cancer cells. The present study was undertaken to explore the clinicopathoiogical significance of intraepithelial CD8+ T cells using 371 consecutively sampled human colorectal carcinomas. By univariate analysis, we noted that the survival curves by intraepithelial CD8+ T cells became separated only after 1 to 2 years postoperation. Multivariate analyses revealed that the beneficial effect of this factor becomes significant only after a longer (more than 2 year), but not after a shorter (less than 2 year) follow-up period. Furthermore, the number of intraepithelial CD8+ T cells was significantly higher in patients alive for more than 5 years than in patients who either died of cancer after a curative operation or patients who underwent a noncurative operation. Patients' cancer-specific death long after a curative operation is thought to be caused by the growth of micrometastases in other organs or near the primary sites. The effects of intraepithelial CD8+ T cells, therefore, may be mediated by suppression of micrometastasis, rather than suppression of growth in the primary tumour. In conclusion, our data support a hypothesis on the presence of systemic immunosurveillance against micrometastasis of cancer cells.
KW - Colorectal cancer
KW - Intratumoral CD8+ T cells
KW - Multivariate analyses
KW - Tumour immunity
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U2 - 10.1038/sj.bjc.6602201
DO - 10.1038/sj.bjc.6602201
M3 - Article
C2 - 15494715
AN - SCOPUS:9144273838
VL - 91
SP - 1711
EP - 1717
JO - British Journal of Cancer
JF - British Journal of Cancer
SN - 0007-0920
IS - 9
ER -