Pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma: predominant infiltration of tumor-associated cytotoxic T lymphocytes might represent the enhanced tumor immunity.
Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LELC) of the lung is an undifferentiated carcinoma with prominent lymphoid stroma. We encountered a case of synchronous primary lung cancers of LELC and papillary adenocarcinoma in a 67-year-old Japanese woman. By in situ hybridization, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome was detected in malignant epithelial cells of LELC but not in the papillary adenocarcinoma. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in LELC were predominantly CD8+ and T cell intracytoplasmic antigen (TIA-1)+ cytotoxic T cells with closely associated with HLA-DR-positive LELC cells by double immunostaining. These data indicate that the exaggerated lymphoid infiltration in and around the EBV-infected carcinoma cells may represent the enhanced tumor immunity, suggesting a better prognostic indicator.
Kobayashi
Motohiro
M
Department of Pathology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto.
Ito
Makoto
M
Sano
Kenji
K
Honda
Takayuki
T
Nakayama
Jun
J
D000231:Adenocarcinoma, Papillary / Q000473:pathology; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000276:immunology*; D009378:Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism