Prognostic value of intratumoral natural killer cells in gastric carcinoma

作者：Sumiya Ishigami, Shoji Natsugoe, Koki Tokuda, Akihiro Nakajo, Che Xiangming, Hirohumi Iwashige, Kuniaki Aridome, Shuichi Hokita, Takashi Aikou · 发表于：Cancer · 年份：2000 · DOI：10.1002/(sici)1097-0142(20000201)88:3<577::aid-cncr13>3.0.co;2-v · 被引用次数：579 · 研究领域：Immune Cell Function and Interaction、Gastric Cancer Management and Outcomes、Inflammatory Biomarkers in Disease Prognosis

BACKGROUND: Natural killer (NK) cells are a group of effector cells that act nonspecifically against tumor cells. The correlation between intratumoral NK cell infiltration and clinicopathologic features remains unclear. METHODS: The authors selected 146 patients with gastric carcinoma who underwent gastrectomy at Kagoshima University Hospital between 1985-1995. Immunohistochemical staining with the CD57 antibody was performed for the evaluation of NK cell infiltration. A total of 25 areas containing CD57 positive cells were selected and the number of NK cells were counted (magnification, x200). The patients were divided into 2 groups: patients with a high level of NK infiltration (n = 39) (>25 NK cells/25 high-power fields [HPF]) and patients with a low level of NK infiltration (n = 107) (<25 NK cells/25 HPF). Intratumoral lymphocytic infiltration also was counted in 25 areas at a magnification of x200. Patients were classified into a high infiltrating lymphocyte (IL) group (n = 69) (>150 cells/HPF) and a low IL group (n = 77) (<150 cells/HPF). The Kaplan-Meier curve was used to analyze surgical outcome. Multivariate analyses were performed to evaluate prognostic factors. RESULTS: Patients with a high level of NK infiltration had a higher rate of early gastric carcinoma, fewer metastases to the lymph nodes (P < 0.01), and less lymphatic invasion (P < 0.05) than patients with a low level of NK infiltration. NK cell infiltration also was found to correlate with depth of invasio...