Lymphocyte subsets in superficial bladder cancer: correlation with biological activity of the tumours.

Background: The investigation of relationship of tumour biological activity and the degree of tissue infiltrating lymphocytes (T4, T8, T6) and macrophages in bladder cancer was the purpose of this study.

Materials And Methods: Tumour specimens and near and distant biopsies from 26 patients suffering from superficial bladder cancer and bladder biopsies from 6 controls were studied. Monoclonal antibodies against T helper/inducer, (CD4), T suppressor/cytotoxic (CD8), Langerhans cells (CD1a) and Monocytes/Histiocytes (LeuM5) were used for the detection of lymphocyte subpopulations. Ki67 growth fractions and recurrence rate per 100 patients-months were used for the definition of the biological activity of the tumours.

Results: The degree of tissue infiltrating lymphocytes differed significantly between controls and both groups. Larger (but not significantly different) numbers were noticed in the non recurrence compared to the recurrence group of patients.

Conclusions: We conclude that the host's immune defence mechanism against malignant cells does not seem to produce significantly different numbers of tissue infiltrating lymphocytes in tumours of low and high aggressiveness. On the other hand the degree of lymphocyte infiltration in bladder cancer is not marked compared to controls of controls of matching age.