PHENOTYPIC ANALYSIS OF T-LYMPHOCYTES DERIVED FROM TUMOR-INFILTRATING LYMPHOCYTES AND PERIPHERAL-BLOOD MONONUCLEAR-CELLS IN PATIENTS WITH RENAL-CELL CARCINOMA

To study the distribution of T-lymphocytes in renal cell carcinoma, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were analyzed in 31 untreated patients by two-colour flow cytometry using 33 monoclonal antibodies. T-cells from TIL and PBMC were different in CD4/CD8 ratio (1.1 vs. 2.5), and in values of activation markers: MHC-II+ (54% vs. 10 %), CD45Ro (81 % vs. 50 %), CD63 (36 % vs. 11 %) and CD69 (60 % vs. 2 %). There was a correlation between the decreasing grading and the expression of CD8, CD25, CD71 and VLA-1. However IL-2 receptor values were unexpectedly rather low (7 % vs. 4 %). The low levels of transferrine receptor (CD71) positive cells suggest an insignificant proliferation of T-lymphocytes despite their activation state. Natural killer cell markers were decreased in tumor infiltrates partly as a result of enzyme digestion, yet confirming their known deficiency in renal cell cancers.