title: In situ detection of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes expressing perforin and fas ligand genes in human HCC.
abstract: AIM:To investigate the expression of perforin and fas-ligand (fas-L) of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).METHODS:By in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry, the perforin and fas-L gene expression of TILs was studied in 20 HCC cases.RESULTS: Positive expression of perforin and fas-L genes was detected in 16 HCC cases. One patient had expression of perforin and fas-L genes in the majority of TILs and survived 1.5 years after tumor resection without HCC relapse.This seems that the presence of a large number of activated T cells might be beneficial for the antitumor immunity. In other cases, less than 10% of TILs were able to express perforin and fas-L genes.CONCLUSION:Although there were a number of T cells in HCC, only few of them were immunoactive and able to kill tumor cells. It seems important to promote further proliferation of these activated T cells in vitro or in vivo.
authors.forename: Qi-Jun
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: Hui-Bin
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Zeng-Qiang
authors.initials: ZQ
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.forename: Shi-Gang
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Hui-Fang
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Meng-Chao
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Wu