Helper T cells infiltrating human renal cell carcinomas have the phenotype of activated memory-like T lymphocytes.
Human renal cell carcinomas are characterized by an inflammatory infiltrate containing many T lymphocytes. Attempts to grow T cells from such tumors by culture in interleukin (IL)-2 have yielded heterogeneous populations of cells with functional characteristics typical of lymphokine-activated killer cells obtained by similar culture of cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells. We examined a panel of surface markers expressed on T lymphocytes to determine if the CD4+ T cells infiltrating human renal cell carcinomas are different from those in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. By flow cytometry analysis the CD4+ T cells in a panel of freshly digested human renal cell carcinoma primary and metastatic tumors expressed the activation markers CD69 and HLA-DR and manifested an increase in CD45RO and a reciprocal decrease in CD45RA expression as compared with peripheral blood CD4+ T cells. This suggests that CD4+ T cells infiltrating renal cell carcinomas are activated and have encountered antigen. However, the expression of the IL-2R alpha chain (CD25) was not different in tumor-infiltrating CD4+ T cells and peripheral blood CD4+ T cells, suggesting that T cells infiltrating human renal cell carcinomas may have a block in proliferative capacity. The general failure of cultured tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) from renal cell carcinoma to demonstrate tumor-specific reactivity may be due to the failure of such cells to grow in IL-2.
Alexander
R B
RB
Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
Fitzgerald
E B
EB
Mixon
A
A
Carter
C S
CS
Jakobsen
M
M
Cohen
P A
PA
Rosenberg
S A
SA
D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000276:immunology* / Q000556:secondary; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000276:immunology; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D015979:Killer Cells, Lymphokine-Activated / Q000276:immunology*; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000276:immunology*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology*
D005819:Genetic Markers; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens