Immunohistochemical study with monoclonal antibodies on immune response in human lung cancers.

Fifty consecutively resected lungs in the National Cancer Center of Japan were studied immunohistochemically using monoclonal antibodies (B1, B2, Leu4, Leu3a, Leu2a, Leu7, OKT6, OKM1, OKI1, OKT9) with special reference to infiltrating lymphocytes and histiocytes. The histological types of these cases were: 14 squamous cell carcinomas; 23 adenocarcinomas; four adenosquamous carcinomas; three large cell carcinomas; one small cell carcinoma with areas of large cell component; one carcinoid; and four nonneoplastic focal lesions. A large number of lymphocytes and histiocytes was present in the tumor stroma, especially in papillary adenocarcinoma, in which close association between increased OKT6-positive T-zone histiocytes (Langerhans' cells and their precursors) and proliferation of Leu3a-positive helper-inducer T-lymphocytes was conspicuous. B1-positive primary follicles were occasionally associated with proliferation of Leu3a-positive T-lymphocytes. These features correlated to regional lymph node reaction. Leu7-positive natural killer cells were present sparsely, and there was no suggestion of any significant contact with either neoplastic cells or inflammatory cells.