食道癌間質細胞の細胞学的、電顕的、免疫組織化学的検討

Abstract

The significance of stromal cells in the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was studied, using cytological, electronmicroscopical and immunohistochemical methods. The stromata of esophageal cancer were classified into four types by estimating stromal cells around the deepest invasive lesions of carcinoma nodule. The cases with stroma containing predominantly both fibroblasts and lymphocytes (type II or III) were good in prognosis.Electronmicroscopical examinations showed that cancer stromata were composed of various kinds of cells, such as fibroblasts, macrophages lymphocytes and “fibrohistiocytoid cells”, and cell to cell interaction between cancer cells and various cell types (especially distinct between lymphocytes and fibroblasts) were found.Immunohistochemically, the cases with abundant ferritin and fibronectin-positive fibroblasts, macrophages and “fibrohistiocytoid cells” around the deepest cancer lesion, had good prognosis. And S-100 positive-Langerhans cells were localized within cancer cell nests and in the stroma neighboring to the tumor nodules. The primary tumors, which were rich in Langerhans cells, had better prognosis. Mast cells were seen in various types of the cancer stroma, but rarely existed in the stroma filled, predominantly, with fibroblasts.Though lymphocytes had been regarded as one of the most important factors in stromal reactions, our findings lead to a conclusion that various cell types of stromata including fibroblasts, macrophages, “fibrohistiocytoid cells”, Langerhans cells and mast cells, as well as lymphocytes, play cooperatively in cancer immunology.