title: Presence of mature DC-Lamp+ dendritic cells in sentinel and non-sentinel lymph nodes of breast cancer patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our study examined differences in the presence of mature, DC-Lamp+ DC in the SLN and non-SLN according to the extent of metastatic involvement.
  
  
  METHODS
  Paraffin blocks of the SLN and non-SLN from patients with primary breast cancer who had undergone SLN biopsy and axillary dissection were separated into three groups: (Group A) no tumor cell involvement in the SLN and non-SLN; (Group B) isolated tumor cells or micrometastases in the SLN, and tumor cell-free non-SLN; and (Group C) macrometastases in the SLN. One section of all the SLN and non-SLN was examined with immunohistochemistry using an anti-DC-Lamp-antibody. The densest area occupied by the DC-Lamp+ cells on each slide was quantified and recorded by an electronic imaging system. In this regard, the SLN and non-SLN were compared within the patients of each group using the Wilcoxon signed rank-test (p<0.05).
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred and fourteen SLN and 1258 non-SLN from 79 patients were examined. A significantly larger area was occupied by the DC-Lamp(+) cells in the SLN compared to the non-SLN in Groups A (p=0.024) and B (p=0.009), whereas no significant difference was found within Group C (p=0.107).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that the DC-dependent immune response is altered during the process of metastasis formation and is primarily activated before and during formation of micrometastasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery and Surgical Oncology, Robert Rössle Clinic at Helios-Klinikum Berlin, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Campus Buch, Lindenberger Weg 80, D13125 Berlin, Germany. andreas.bembenek@charite.de
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bembenek
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Loddenkemper
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kemmner
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Wernecke
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Schlag
mesh_terms: D044963:Biopsy, Fine-Needle; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D003713:Dendritic Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology*; D051907:Lysosomal Membrane Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D021701:Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy
chemical_list: D051907:Lysosomal Membrane Proteins