Immunosuppressive acidic protein (IAP) in gastric cancer patients

Elevated alpha1-acid glycoprotein in gastric cancer patients inhibits the anticancer effects of paclitaxel, effects restored by co-administration of erythromycin

Paclitaxel (PTX) which easily elutes into ascites is widely used to treat gastric cancer patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC), but clinical outcomes are suboptimal. Increased concentrations of α1-acid glycoprotein (AGP), an important drug-binding protein, have been reported in the plasma and ascites of cancer patients. This study sought to clarify whether AGP binds to PTX and alters its anticancer effects. AGP concentrations were measured in the serum and ascites of gastric cancer patients with PC and in the serum of healthy volunteers. The in vitro effects of AGP and AGP plus erythromycin (EM) on PTX were evaluated by MTT assays in the gastric cancer cell lines. We also measured AGP concentrations in the ascites of PC model mice and examined the effects of EM plus PTX on PC. The mean AGP concentrations in the serum and ascites of gastric cancer patients with PC were 1524 and 834 μg/mL, respectively, higher than the mean AGP concentration of 650 μg/mL observed in the sera of healthy volunteers. AGP > 400 μg/mL significantly suppressed the cell growth inhibitory effect of PTX in vitro, but the co-administration of EM restored it. Elevated AGP concentrations were observed in the ascites of PC model mice. Administration of PTX alone did not markedly diminish PC, whereas co-administration of PTX and EM significantly reduced PC (p = 0.011). AGP is an important regulatory factor modulating the anticancer activity of intraperitoneal PTX. The co-administration of PTX and EM may be effective in treating gastric cancer patients with PC.

Serum immunosuppressive acidic protein levels in patients with severe acute pancreatitis

OBJECTIVES

In severe acute pancreatitis (SAP), immunologic impairment in the early phase may be linked to subsequent infectious complications. Immunosuppressive acidic protein (IAP) is an immunosuppressive factor to be present in serum and ascites of cancer patients, and it is used as a tumor marker and an index of immune status of cancer hosts.

METHODS

We measured serum IAP levels in 42 patients with SAP (Japanese severity score [JSS] > or = 2) on admission and analyzed the relationships with disease severity, pancreatic necrosis, blood biochemical parameters on admission, and clinical outcome (infection and death).

RESULTS

Serum IAP level increased 791 +/- 285 microg/mL (range, 159-1430 microg/mL) on admission and recognized abnormal high level (normal range, < 500 microg/mL) in 37 patients (88.1%). Serum IAP level was significantly lower in patients of stages 3 and 4 (JSS > or = 9) (678 +/- 187 microg/mL) than that in patients of stage 2 (2 < or = JSS < or = 8) (848 +/- 311 microg/mL). It was also significantly lower in patients whose Ranson score was 5 or higher (674 +/- 287 microg/mL) than that in patients whose Ranson score was 4 or less (910 +/- 287 microg/mL). Moreover, it was significantly lower in patients with pancreatic necrosis (693 +/- 194 microg/mL) than that in patients without pancreatic necrosis (922 +/- 336 microg/mL). Among the blood biochemical parameters on admission, serum IAP was significantly negatively correlated with hematocrit, serum lipase, and serum interferon gamma and was significantly positively correlated with serum total protein. Serum IAP levels in patients of stage 2 reached higher peak at 7 days after admission and decreased more rapidly than those in patients of stages 3 and 4.

CONCLUSIONS

Serum IAP levels were elevated in patients with SAP but were significantly lower in patients with higher grade of severity or pancreatic necrosis. These results suggest that serum IAP levels may be related to systemic inflammatory response and reflect the immunoresponsiveness in patients with SAP.

Adverse effects of intraportal chemotherapy on natural killer cell activity in colorectal cancer patients

BACKGROUND

Adjuvant intraportal chemotherapy has been used with a view to prevent the development of metachronous hepatic metastases following curative resection for colorectal cancer. To evaluate the effects of this therapy on systemic antitumor immunological activity, 35 colorectal cancer patients who underwent curative resection were investigated.

METHOD

Among them. 19 had adjuvant intraportal chemotherapy with mitomycin C and 5-fluorouracil (treated group) and 16 had no chemotherapy (untreated group). Natural killer (NK) cell activity, lymphocyte subpopulations, and immunosuppressive acidic protein (IAP) in the peripheral blood were measured serially before and after operation, and the values were compared between the two groups.

RESULTS

The NK cell activity and the percentages of CD16 positive and CD56 positive cells were markedly reduced in the treated group postoperatively. Significant difference was also observed between the two groups on the 4th postoperative day in regard to NK cell activity and CD56 positive cells.

CONCLUSIONS

Intraportal chemotherapy in our study reduced the NK cell activity and its population in the peripheral blood.

Natural killer activity and serum immunosuppressive acidic protein levels in esophageal and gastric cancers

The natural killer (NK) activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and serum immunosuppressive acidic protein (IAP) levels were examined in patients with esophageal or gastric cancer, before and after surgery. Patients with stage IV esophageal or stage IV gastric cancer had significantly lower NK activity (39.5 +/- 14.8% and 37 +/- 11.6%, respectively), and also higher serum IAP levels (778 +/- 264 micrograms/mL and 633 +/- 156 micrograms/mL, respectively), than the corresponding control values (50 +/- 5.6% and 375 +/- 26 micrograms/mL, respectively). Patients with esophageal or gastric cancer who underwent curative resection had high NK activity (54.8 +/- 11.6% and 54.8 +/- 8.0%, respectively), and low IAP levels (471 +/- 116 micrograms/mL and 490 +/- 42 micrograms/mL, respectively), compared with those who underwent non-curative resection. Patients who underwent non-curative resection had lower NK activity and higher serum IAP levels than those who underwent curative resection, even 1 month after surgery. Mononuclear cells in the regional lymph nodes and tumor specimens showed significantly lower NK activity than those in the peripheral blood and spleen. Thus, NK activity and the IAP level reflected the immunocompetence, clinical course, and surgical curability of those patients. NK cells appeared not to have any significant antitumor activity in the regional lymph nodes or in the tumor itself, although they were still active in the peripheral blood.

Diagnostic accuracy of combination of assays for immunosuppressive acidic protein and carcinoembryonic antigen in detection of recurrence of gastric cancer

Two tumour markers, immunosuppressive acidic protein (IAP) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), were assayed in gastric cancer patients. Levels of IAP and CEA were measured simultaneously in the preoperative and postoperative periods. The usefulness of the combined assay of these markers for detection of recurrence of cancer was investigated in terms of sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy. Sensitivity was not high (69.2%), but specificity and diagnostic accuracy were 96.7% and 86.9%, respectively. In cases with metastases in the liver, sensitivity (100.0%), specificity (100.0%) and diagnostic accuracy were high. In cases of peritoneal dissemination, these indices were low. The combination assay of IAP and CEA appears to be useful for detection of recurrence of gastric cancer, especially in patients with liver metastases.

Levels of tissue polypeptide antigen in serum and the progression of gastric cancer

Correlations between levels of tissue polypeptide antigen (TPA) in serum and histologic stage or progression of cancer were studied in 94 patients with gastric cancer. Levels of TPA in serum from patients with cancerous invasion into the vein of the stomach wall (v-invasion) were elevated in parallel to the progression of cancer by stage, and were significantly higher in each positive case than in each negative case of lymph node metastasis or of cancerous invasion into lymph vessels of the stomach wall (P less than 0.05 and P less than 0.01, respectively). There were no differences in levels of TPA in serum from patients without v-invasion when these cancers were classified by stage, progression, or histologic type. It appears that elevation of levels of TPA in serum is associated with v-invasion, and that a determination of the level of TPA in serum is useful for the prediction of hematogenic metastasis in cases of gastric cancer.

Tumor-derived suppressor factors (TDSFs) in normal and neoplastic colon and rectum

Acid tumor-derived suppressor factors (TDSFs, isoelectric pH less than 3.0) in extracts of murine fibrosarcomas and human colorectal adenocarcinoma cell lines induce normal murine spleen cells to inhibit delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) to the sensitizer dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB). We sought to determine if TDSF from normal and neoplastic human colon and rectum also inhibited normal human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) responses to mitogen and to alloantigens. Collagenase-DNase digests of five freshly isolated carcinomas and paired autologous normal tissues were subjected to preparative isoelectric focusing (pIEF) over a pH range of 2.5 to 9.5. Fractions with isoelectric pH less than 3.0 from three of the five tumors induced normal C3H/HeN spleen cells to inhibit DTH to DNCB. Acid fractions from three tumors and four normal tissues also significantly inhibited the PBMC proliferative response to mitogen and alloantigens. However, the ability of acid fractions to suppress lymphocyte proliferation did not correlate with the induction of suppression of DTH to DNCB. Incubation of human PBMC with acid proliferation inhibitors did not induce suppressor cells that would inhibit the subsequent proliferative response of fresh, autologous PBMC. The acid suppressant from colorectal carcinoma was sensitive to treatment with trypsin but not RNase or DNase, whereas murine TDSF is sensitive to RNase and resistant to treatment with trypsin. The suppressive moiety from one tumor had an apparent mass of 45 kDa by gel filtration chromatography, in contrast to murine TDSF that has a mass of more than 300 kDa. Thus, the acid inhibitor in digests of human colorectal carcinoma is distinct from the TDSF that induces suppressor cells for DTH to DNCB.