In vitro monocyte maturation in squamous-cell carcinoma of the lung: influence of humoral factors

Leukocyte infiltration and secretion of cytokines in pleural drainage fluid after thoracic surgery: impaired cytokine response in malignancy and postoperative complications

STUDY OBJECTIVE

To assess the postoperative course of pleural leukocyte counts and cytokine concentrations in patients with malignant and nonmalignant lung disease who underwent thoracic surgery.

PATIENTS AND INTERVENTIONS

A total of 21 patients undergoing thoracic surgery were included in the study. Twelve patients had a malignant disease, and 9 had a nonmalignant disease. Six patients underwent video-assisted thoracoscopy and 15 underwent thoracotomy. Pleural drainage fluid from the chest tubes was collected postoperatively at Oh, 3h, 6h, 12h, 24h, 48h, 72h, and 96 h. The same schedule, as well as one additional preoperative sample, was applied for blood collections.

RESULTS

A trend toward lower concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), granulocytemacrophage colony-stimulating factor, and interleukin-10 was observed in patients with malignant disease compared to those without malignancy. These differences achieved significance for TNF-alpha in the drainage fluid of those patients with nonmalignant disease who had undergone formal thoracotomy. Patients with malignant disease showed significantly lower macrophage fractions in drainage fluid and lymphocyte fractions in serum. All patients with complications had malignant disease and showed the lowest cytokine concentrations, as well as the lowest fractions of both macrophages in drainage fluid and lymphocytes in serum.

CONCLUSION

The data suggest that malignancy may lead to impairment of the wound-healing process via modification of the inflammatory cell infiltrate and locally released cytokines.

Bronchogenic carcinoma: immunologic aspects

Evidence that host immunologic function may influence the behavior of lung cancer is accumulating. Non-small-cell lung cancers are heavily infiltrated by host lymphocytes. The fact that monoclonal antibodies have been developed against lung cancer cells implies that such cells express surface antigens and are therefore vulnerable to immune recognition. Failure of the host defense mechanism to control tumor growth may involve (1) reduced natural killer cell activity, (2) inadequate lymphokine-activated killer cell function, or (3) tumor secretion of immunomodulating factors. Basic immunologic research studies of lung cancer are increasing the potential for clinical applications. New monoclonal antibodies have improved both the sensitivity and the specificity of immunohistopathologic analyses of pulmonary specimens. Links between immune function and prognosis in patients with lung cancer have been established. Finally, initial results from protocols that have used tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, interleukin 2, and tumor vaccines suggest that immunobiologic treatment modalities may be increasingly applicable in patients with lung cancer.

Further studies on the differences in cytotoxicity of human peripheral blood monocytes and bronchoalveolar macrophages for cultured human lung cells

Previously reported differences between the cytostatic activity of human peripheral blood monocytes (PBM) and bronchoalveolar macrophages (BAM) for cultured human lung tumor cells have been further investigated. The differences are both quantitative and qualitative and are shown not to be due to the respective methods of purification. There was a varying contribution of cytolysis to the cytostasis detected by the 75selenomethionine post-labeling assay used. Bronchoalveolar macrophages were cytolytic when tested at both low and high E:T ratios but PBM were only cytolytic at the low E:T ratio. A variable dependence upon soluble cytostatic factor(s) was suggested, and there was evidence of heterogeneity in the factors released by the two populations. Cytostatic factor production by both populations appeared to be under similar regulatory constraints. In vitro maturation of PBM altered their cytostatic dose-response curve to one resembling that previously reported for BAM. It was also shown that sera from poor-prognosis lung tumor patients, which suppressed the in vitro maturation of PBM, also suppressed the in vitro cytostatic activity of PBM for cultured human lung tumor cells.

Autochthonous murine tumors: effects of viral or ultraviolet induction, immunogenicity and transplantation on intratumoral macrophages and systemic inflammatory responses

Macrophage tumoricidal activity requires a constant influx of macrophages but many transplanted cancers inhibit macrophage inflammatory responses. In this paper we address the issue of whether or not autochthonous tumors induced by either mammary tumor virus (MTV) in C3H/He mice or ultraviolet (u.v.) radiation in C3H/He or BALB/c mice also depress macrophage responses. Anti-inflammatory activity was not observed either prior to or during growth of these autochthonous tumors. Rather, the opposite was observed: strongly immunogenic u.v.-induced tumors which were rejected upon transplantation to syngeneic hosts had enhanced macrophage responses and more intratumoral macrophages than those mice whose tumors were transplantable. Transplantation of MTV-induced tumors selected for more aggressive tumors which had fewer intratumoral macrophages. In both MTV- and u.v.-induced tumors inflammatory responses of mice bearing serially transplanted tumors often differed from mice with autochthonous tumors. Our results demonstrate that anti-inflammation is probably not required for emergence and growth of these autochthonous tumors, that strongly immunogenic tumors may actually enhance macrophage responses and that the effect of tumor bearing on macrophage inflammation is a characteristic of the tumor, including its site and host of origin, its immunogenicity and its transplant generation.