[Langerhans cells in laryngeal carcinoma in relation to prognosis]

Infiltration of Langerhans cells (LCs) was investigated by immunohistochemical methods with the use of anti-S100 protein in 25 cases of stage II and 50 cases of stage III laryngeal carcinoma. Varying population densities of S100 positive LCs were noted. LCs were mainly interspersed among the tumor cells. The prognosis of patients with stage II and stage III laryngeal carcinoma correlated well to the density of LCs in tumor tissue in patients with a marked infiltration of LCs, survival time was longer than in those cases with only a slight infiltration (P < 0.05). This indicates that LCs may play an important role in the immunologic defense mechanisms of the host against the tumor in laryngeal carcinoma.