[A clinical study on tumor-associated monocyte lineage cells in renal cell carcinoma]

To investigate the relationship between the ratio of monocytes infiltrating renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and prognosis, in 78 patients who underwent nephrectomy, the positive rate of the following parameters was assessed immunohistochemically under light microscopy: tumor-associated macrophage (TAM), microvessel density (MVD), S-100 cell, HLA-DR cell, apoptosis index (AI) and proliferative index (PI). The relationship between the positive rate of these parameters and prognosis, and intercorrelations among these parameters were analyzed. A positive correlation with prognosis was observed in patients positive for TAM, MVD or PI (r = 0.625). Prognosis was poor for patients with high levels of these parameters. Furthermore, the number of S-100-positive cells was a prognostic factor only in patients with metastatic RCC. Although the role of TAM as a prognostic factor in RCC is clear, no linear relationship was identified between prognosis and other monocytes.