Research Centre of the Centre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CRCHUM), Notre-Dame Hospital and Institut du cancer de Montréal. 1560 Sherbrooke East, Montréal, Québec, Canada.

Our goal was to study the hormonal regulation of immune cell infiltration in prostate cancer patients treated by androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) using an optimized computer-assistance quantification approach.

The relative density of immune cell subtypes (CD3(+), CD8(+), CD20(+), CD56(+), CD68(+) and Foxp3(+)) was analyzed by immunohistochemistry in archived prostate specimens from control patients (radical prostatectomy only, n=40) and ADT-treated patients (ADT prior to radical prostatectomy, n=35) using an image analysis software and a whole-slide scanner.

ADT-treated patients had significantly increased relative density of CD3(+) (p< 0.001) and CD8(+) T lymphocytes (p< 0.001) as well as CD68(+) macrophages (p< 0.001). Elevated abundance of CD56(+) Natural Killer (NK) cells was associated with a lower risk of prostate cancer progression (p=0.044), while a high density of CD68(+) macrophages was related to an increased risk of biochemical recurrence (p=0.011).

Our results demonstrate that the infiltration of specific immune cell subtypes is modulated by ADT. Furthermore our data confirm that NK cells have a protective role against tumor progression while macrophages seem to favor the development of advanced prostate cancer.

Written by:
Gannon PO, Poisson AO, Delvoye N, Lapointe R, Mes-Masson AM, Saad F.   Are you the author?

Reference:
J Immunol Methods. 2009 Jun 22. Epub ahead of print.
doi:10.1016/j.jim.2009.06.004

PubMed Abstract
PMID:19552894

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