BACKGROUND: Number of intratumoral mast cells predicts survival in various cancers. The prognostic significance of such mast cells in surgically treated prostate cancer is unknown. METHODS: Mast cell densities were determined in prostate cancer samples of more than 2,300 hormone-naïve patients using a tissue microarray format in correlation with clinical follow-up data. Mast cells were visualized immunohistochemically (c-kit). All patients were homogeneously treated by radical prostatectomy at a single institution. RESULTS: Mast cells were present in 95.9% of the tumor samples. Median mast cell number on the tissue spot was 9 (range: 0-90; median density: 31 mast cells/mm(2)). High mast cell densities were significantly associated with more favorable tumors having lower preoperative prostate-specific antigen (P = 0.0021), Gleason score (P < 0.0001) and tumor stage (P < 0.0001) than tumors with low mast cell densities. Prostate-specific antigen recurrence-free survival significantly (P = 0.0001) decreased with decline of mast cell density showing poorest outcome for patients without intratumoral mast cells. In multivariate analysis mast cell density narrowly missed to add independent prognostic information (P = 0.0815) for prostate-specific antigen recurrence. CONCLUSION: High intratumoral mast cell density is associated with favorable tumor characteristics and good prognosis in prostate cancer. This finding is consistent with a role of mast cells in the immunological host-defense reaction on prostate cancer. Triggering mast cell activity might expand immunotherapeutic strategies in prostate cancer.
BACKGROUND: Number of intratumoral mast cells predicts survival in various cancers. The prognostic significance of such mast cells in surgically treated prostate cancer is unknown. METHODS: Mast cell densities were determined in prostate cancer samples of more than 2,300 hormone-naïve patients using a tissue microarray format in correlation with clinical follow-up data. Mast cells were visualized immunohistochemically (c-kit). All patients were homogeneously treated by radical prostatectomy at a single institution. RESULTS: Mast cells were present in 95.9% of the tumor samples. Median mast cell number on the tissue spot was 9 (range: 0-90; median density: 31 mast cells/mm(2)). High mast cell densities were significantly associated with more favorable tumors having lower preoperative prostate-specific antigen (P = 0.0021), Gleason score (P < 0.0001) and tumor stage (P < 0.0001) than tumors with low mast cell densities. Prostate-specific antigen recurrence-free survival significantly (P = 0.0001) decreased with decline of mast cell density showing poorest outcome for patients without intratumoral mast cells. In multivariate analysis mast cell density narrowly missed to add independent prognostic information (P = 0.0815) for prostate-specific antigen recurrence. CONCLUSION: High intratumoral mast cell density is associated with favorable tumor characteristics and good prognosis in prostate cancer. This finding is consistent with a role of mast cells in the immunological host-defense reaction on prostate cancer. Triggering mast cell activity might expand immunotherapeutic strategies in prostate cancer.
Authors: Helen B Pearson; Pedro A Perez-Mancera; Lukas E Dow; Andrew Ryan; Pierre Tennstedt; Debora Bogani; Imogen Elsum; Andy Greenfield; David A Tuveson; Ronald Simon; Patrick O Humbert Journal: J Clin Invest Date: 2011-10-03 Impact factor: 14.808
Authors: Anna Johansson; Stina Rudolfsson; Peter Hammarsten; Sofia Halin; Kristian Pietras; Jonathan Jones; Pär Stattin; Lars Egevad; Torvald Granfors; Pernilla Wikström; Anders Bergh Journal: Am J Pathol Date: 2010-07-08 Impact factor: 4.307
Authors: Andreas Josefsson; Hani Adamo; Peter Hammarsten; Torvald Granfors; Pär Stattin; Lars Egevad; Anna Engström Laurent; Pernilla Wikström; Anders Bergh Journal: Am J Pathol Date: 2011-08-18 Impact factor: 4.307
Authors: Christina Hägglöf; Peter Hammarsten; Andreas Josefsson; Pär Stattin; Janna Paulsson; Anders Bergh; Arne Ostman Journal: PLoS One Date: 2010-05-20 Impact factor: 3.240