Activated CD4-positive T-lymphocytes and impaired cell-mediated immunity in patients with carcinoma of the urinary bladder with schistosomiasis

Article Abstract:

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease which affects millions worldwide. The parasitic worm may infect the bladder and the particular species Schistosoma haematobium is considered a cause of bladder cancer. Although cancer of the prostate may also be associated with schistosoma infection, the exact process of disease development is unknown. To determine if the development of bladder cancer in schistosomiasis patients is aided by suppression of the immune system, peripheral blood lymphocytes were studied in bladder cancer patients with schistosomiasis (SCB), patients with schistosomiasis of the bladder without cancer (SB), schistosomiasis with cancer of the prostate (SCP), cancer of the prostate only (CP), and cancer of the bladder only (CB). It was found that SCP, SCB, and SB patients had several immunologic abnormalities, including the presence of HLA-DR and IL-2 receptors on circulating T-cells. These antigens are generally expressed only on cells undergoing activation. The patients with SCB were distinguished from the others in that the HLA-DR and IL-2 receptors were expressed on the majority of the helper-inducer T cells, whereas in the other patients, the antigens were expressed equally on the helper-inducer and suppressor-cytotoxic T cell types. Both the mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) and the autologous mixed lymphocyte reaction (AMLR) were depressed in SCB patients. However, patients with SCP had a depression in the AMLR only, suggesting that the underlying immunological defect is different in the two cases. The MLR is a crude measure of the function of cellular immunity, and the interpretation of results is generally difficult. The identification of differences in schistosomiasis patients may shed light on the cellular immune function in patients and upon its role in the pathogenesis of cancer. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Research, Physiological aspects, Cellular immunity, Schistosomiasis

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Nuclear volume and expression of T-antigen, sialosyl-Tn-antigen, and Tn-antigen in carcinoma of the human bladder: relation to tumor recurrence and progression

Article Abstract:

For much of the development of modern medicine, the microscopic evaluation of cancer specimens was limited, for the most part, to their appearance. Now, however, the advent of modern techniques has made possible fairly sophisticated biochemical evaluation as well. One technique which has proved extremely useful is that of monoclonal antibody preparation, which results in antibodies that are very pure and may be used for the specific staining of many proteins and other antigens within tissue specimens. Researchers have now used this method for the evaluation of the role of T-system antigens in the progression of cancer. The T antigens consist of a series of carbohydrate molecules of specific structure with specific chemical modifications. This chemical modification may include the addition of sialic acid, a sugar-like molecule often attached to sugars and proteins on the cell surface. Bladder tumor specimens were examined for variations in the expression of T-system antigens. The T antigen itself was found to be more common among patients who went on to develop invasive disease than among the patients who did not: seven of 13 patients and three of 21 patients, respectively. No comparable association with invasive disease was seen for the related Tn antigen or the sialosyl-Tn antigen. At the same time that investigators were determining the correlation of T antigen with the development of invasive disease, the volume of the nuclei of the cancer cells was determined using the statistical techniques of stereology. The researchers found that the average volume of the cell nuclei was larger on average for the tumors which would ultimately progress to invasive disease. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Development and progression, Tumor antigens

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