[Detection of endogenous IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha in tumor-infiltrating mononuclear cells of human colorectal cancer].
Quantitative evaluation of the levels of endogenous gamma-interferon (IFN-gamma) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in the extracts of tumor, peritumoral and normal colorectal tissues resected surgically from 43 patients with colorectal adenocarcinoma was carried out using solid-phase, sandwich radioimmunoassay (RIA). The levels of both IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha detected in the tumor tissues were higher than those in the peritumoral and normal tissues obtained from each patient. A significant negative correlation was observed between the levels of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha in each tumor tissue. The decrease of endogenous IFN-gamma in the tumors correlated with the advance of histopathological stages. Thirty seven patients were classified into three types according to the endogenous IFN-gamma distribution (intratumoral dominant type, peritumoral dominant type and nonreactive type). There was no significant difference concerning to the tumor diameters among them. However, the mean stage of the intratumoral dominant type was significantly earlier than that of the nonreactive types. On the other hand, the increase of endogenous TNF-alpha correlated with the maximum diameter of primary tumors. The production of endogenous TNF-alpha was localized in the tumor tissues, and the significant elevation of endogenous TNF-alpha was not observed in the peritumoral tissues. The immunohistochemical staining of IFN-gamma- and TNF-alpha-producing cells in tumor tissues represented that IFN-gamma was mainly produced by CD4+CD8-CD11c- lymphocytes and that TNF-alpha was mainly produced by CD4-CD8-CD11c+ cells with macrophage-like morphology. These results suggest that CD4+ lymphocytes producing IFN-gamma might play an important role in the anti-tumor response against cancer progression in human colorectal adenocarcinoma.
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Department of Microbiology, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000032:analysis*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis*
D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D007371:Interferon-gamma