No abstract

Mononuclear cells from peripheral blood and draining lymph nodes of 40 patients with invasive locoregional breast cancer were examined for immunological cell surface markers (E, EAhuman, EAox, EAC, SIg pos.). Concomitantly, blood lymphocytes from 36 healthy women and axillary and mesenteric lymph-nodes from patients without malignant diseases were tested as controls. In peripheral blood of tumor patients E rosette-forming cells were slightly diminished as compared to the control group, whereas EAox and EAC rosette-forming cells were increased. These differences may be age-dependent rather than tumor-related. In the draining lymph nodes of breast cancer patients as well as in the control lymph nodes, the percentages of EAC rosette-forming cells and SIg positive lymphocytes were significantly increased compared to peripheral blood, whereas E and EAhuman rosette values remained unchanged. Percentages of EAox rosettes on the other hand were strongly diminished in the draining lymph nodes, suggesting that the EAhuman and EAox rosetting techniques detect 2 types of Fc-receptor bearing cells. No significant differences were found between the cell surface marker analysis of tumor-free and metastatic lymph nodes of breast cancer patients and the control lymph nodes.

An analysis of karyotypes was possible in 17 preinvasive lesions (3 dysplasias, 14 carcinomas in situ) and 15 invasive lesions of the cervix uteri (3 carcinomas in situ with microinvasion, 12 invasive squamos carcinomas - at least clinical stage I b). With regard to the structural chromosome abnormalities or karyotype deviations in this study the preinvasive lesions analysed could not be differentiated in principle as a group from the invasive lesions. The question of whether the dysplasia group would be different on further investigation with more cases and could be differentiated like the numerical deviations cannot yet be answered, because of the small numbers, only preinvasive lesions and invasive lesions could be studied comparatively as groups.

Mononuclear cells from peripheral blood and draining lymph nodes of 40 patients with invasive mammary carcinoma were examined for various immunological cell surface markers including surface membrane immunoglobulins and rosetting properties (E, EA, EAC). No significant relationship could be established to anyone of the following criteria for which the literature reports varying prognostic values: Clinical staging of the disease , histological tumor type, grading, nuclear differentiation, round cell infiltration, perivenous infiltration, sinus histiocytosis, and lymph node reaction patterns (lymphocyte predominance, germinal center predominance, lymphocyte depletion, unstimulated nodes). From the reported results it is concluded that the analysis of lymphocyte cell surface markers in mammary carcinoma is not a suitable parameter for supporting the existence of specific or unspecific anti-tumor immune reactions which may be suspected from certain histological reaction patterns.