title: T lymphocytes infiltrating advanced grades of cervical neoplasia. CD8-positive cells are recruited to invasion.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Impaired cellular immunity appears to be a risk factor for progression of cervical neoplasia, but the immunobiology of neoplastic progression is poorly understood. The objective of this study was to characterize the subpopulations of T lymphocytes that infiltrate various grades of cervical neoplasia including metaplasia to invasive cancer in immunocompetent women.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 65 patients with a spectrum of cervical disease ranging from normal cytology to carcinoma, the relative proportions of total T lymphocytes and CD4- or CD8-expressing (helper or cytotoxic) T lymphocyte subsets were determined by immunohistochemistry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  When the invasive carcinoma stromal infiltrate was compared with the infiltrate of preinvasive lesions, the numbers of total T cells and the CD8-positive subset increased significantly in the invasive cancers (P < 0.005). Although immunocyte infiltrates were highly concentrated in focal clusters beneath the preinvasive squamous lesions, the CD8-positive immunocytes diffusely infiltrated the invading tumor.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The CD8-positive T cell infiltrate far exceeded the CD4-positive cells in the invasive, but not in the preinvasive lesions, a finding that suggests that CD8 cells are recruited preferentially to cervical lesions with progression to invasion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center, USA.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuykendall
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Crowley-Nowick
authors.forename: E E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Partridge
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Shingleton
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mestecky
mesh_terms: D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D010641:Phenotype; D013601:T-Lymphocytes; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*