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CD1a dendritic cells predominate in transitional cell carcinoma of bladder and kidney but are minimally activated
A J Troy1, P J Davidson, C H Atkinson
1Department of Urology, Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand.
Purpose:
In this study, we employed similar techniques to detail dendritic cell subsets within bladder transitional cell carcinoma and kidney transitional cell carcinoma.
Materials And Methods:
To identify both the CD1a+ and CD1a- antigen-expressing dendritic cell populations we employed a double labeling technique to identify non-lineage-expressing leukocytes similar to that employed to isolate blood dendritic cells.
Results:
Dendritic cells were found in significant numbers within both bladder and kidney derived transitional cell carcinoma. Almost all the dendritic cells among the tumor cells belonged to the CD1a+ subset of epithelial dendritic cells. Similar numbers of dendritic cells were observed in the lamina propria adjacent to the tumor. These dendritic cells belonged predominantly to the CD1a- subset. These differences appear to reflect the different dendritic cell phenotypes reported for the epidermis and dermis.
Conclusions:
The number of dendritic cells increased as the grade of the tumor increased, reflecting an overall higher leukocyte density in higher grade tumors. However, a possible trend for less dendritic cell activation in higher grade cancers was noted, raising the intriguing possibility that this might be a relevant prognostic factor, to be confirmed in a larger study.