Transcript signature predicts tissue NK cell content and defines renal cell carcinoma subgroups independent of TNM staging.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is an aggressive and difficult to manage cancer. Immunotherapy has the potential to induce long-lasting regression in a small group of patients. However, severe side effects limit broad application which highlights the need for a marker to distinguish responder from nonresponder.

Human renal cell carcinoma induces a dendritic cell subset that uses T-cell crosstalk for tumor-permissive milieu alterations.

Tissue dendritic cells (DCs) may influence the progression of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) by regulating the functional capacity of antitumor effector cells. DCs and their interaction with T cells were analyzed in human RCC and control kidney tissues. The frequency of CD209(+) DCs in RCCs was found to be associated with an unfavorable T(H)1 cell balance in the tissue and advanced tumor stages.

Are gastrointestinal mucosal mast cells increased in patients with systemic mastocytosis?

In patients with mastocytosis, gastrointestinal symptoms are a frequent phenomenon. However, there are only limited data about the quantity and distribution pattern of mast cells in the gastrointestinal mucosa. We stained gastroduodenal biopsy specimens from 27 patients with mastocytosis and 48 control subjects for mast cell tryptase, CD117, and CD25.