Lymphoreticular cells in invasive carcinoma of the uterine cervix: an immunohistological study

In the present study the immunohistology of the cellular stromal reaction of invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix is investigated. Tumor tissue from 10 patients with invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix (stages Ib-IIb, according to FIGO) was immunostained by the alkaline phosphatase-anti-alkaline phosphatase (APAAP) method. The monoclonal antibodies OKT3, OKT4, OKT8, TO15, Ki-M1, and Ki-M6 were applied. The cells in the stroma and the tumor foci were evaluated separately. In all cases, the overwhelming majority of lymphoreticular cells were found in the stroma and the tumor-cell complexes contained relatively low numbers of these cells. While B-lymphocytes were present only in low numbers or were virtually absent from the lymphoreticular infiltrates, cells of the mononuclear-phagocyte system were found to be another prominent constituent of the tumor's cellular stromal reaction.