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Imbalance of helper and suppressor T lymphocytes in malignant non‐hodgkin lymphomas: An In situ morphometric analysis
Author(s) -
Gattringer C.,
Huber H.,
Radaszkiewicz T.,
Pfaller W.,
Braunsteiner H.
Publication year - 1984
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/ijc.2910330607
Subject(s) - malignancy , pathology , lymphoma , lymphatic system , biology , in situ , t cell , medicine , immunology , chemistry , immune system , organic chemistry
The number and distribution of reactive T cells within 100 malignant B‐cell lymphomas were evaluated in situ by immunomorphometry using stereological methods. Findings were related to histological and clinical parameters. A mean of 2 × 10 4 reactive T cells/μI tumour tissue was found. This corresponds to 40% of the T‐cell content of normal lymphatic tissues. The distribution of reactive T cells within the tumours was diffuse except for centroblastic/centrocytic lymphomas. When evaluating the different histological entities a correlation between number of helper T cells, T helper:T suppressor (T H :T S ) ratio and histological subgroups emerged, particularly in non‐Hodgkinlymphomas of low‐grade malignancy. The highest ratio was found in prognostically favourable subgroups, CLL(2.7 ± 0.3) and tumour areas of centroblastic/centrocytic lymphomas (2.9 ± 0.4). In contrast, a significantly lower ratio was found in centrocytic lymphomas (1.4 ± 0.3) corresponding well to the worst prognosis of this subgroup. The relationship between the number of helper T cells in tumour tissues, T H :T S ratio and prognosis was confirmed and extended by the evaluation of clinical data. It could be shown that, independently of histological criteria, a close correlation exists between the number of T cells, particularly T helper cells within the tumour, T H :T S ratio and clinical course. Patients with a favourable course had 1.4 × 10 4 T helper cells/μI tumour tissue compared to only 0.8 × 10 4 for patients with an unfavourable clinical course (p<0.01); the T H :T S ratio was 2.8 for the favourable and 1.8 for the unfavourable group, respectively (p<0.04). In contrast, neither treatment nor tumour stage had a clear‐cut influence on the extent of T‐cell infiltration.