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In situ T‐cell responses in a primary regressive melanoma and subsequent metastases: A comparative analysis
Author(s) -
Carcelain Guislaine,
RouasFreiss Nathalie,
Zorn Emmanuel,
ChungScott Véronique,
Viel Sophie,
Faure Florence,
Bosq Jacques,
Hercend Thierry
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19970717)72:2<241::aid-ijc7>3.0.co;2-r
Subject(s) - melanoma , cd8 , ctl* , metastasis , human leukocyte antigen , immune system , medicine , lymph node , antigen , primary tumor , cancer research , pathology , immunology , biology , cancer
In an earlier study of the immune response in a patient with a cutaneous primary regressive melanoma, a T‐cell‐receptor diversity analysis demonstrated in situ amplification of certain lymphocytes. Two of them could be cloned and characterized as CD8 + HLA‐class‐I‐restricted CTL with strong selective anti‐tumor activity. Following a disease‐free period of 3 years, the patient developed a gastric metastasis and subsequently (after an additional year) a metastasis in one axillary lymph node. Melanoma cell lines derived from the 2 secondary lesions have been established here. It was found that these metastatic cells have maintained expression of both HLA‐class‐I molecules and the peptidic antigen(s) recognized by the 2 clones amplified at the primary site. However, the corresponding T lymphocytes were either undetectable or poorly represented both in the gastric and in the axillary lesions. These results suggest that substantial alterations in the quality of T‐cell infiltrates occurred during melanoma progression, despite an apparent stability in presentation of tumor‐associated antigen(s) which initially triggered a positive rejection response. Int. J. Cancer 72:241–247, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.