[Eosinophilic infiltration of lung cancer tissue and its correlation with the expression of interleukin-5]
Xiang Han1, Pei Zhang, Juan Wang
1Department of Respiratory Medicine, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing 100191, China.
Objective:
To study the correlation of the eosinophilic infiltration with the expression of Interleukin-5 (IL-5) in tissue specimens from the patients with lung cancer.
Methods:
Eosinophilic infiltration was detected by chromotrope-2R histochemical staining. And the level of IL-5 was detected by immunohistochemistry in 45 lung cancer tissues and 36 corresponding normal lung tissues.
Results:
High-level tissue eosinophilic infiltration was found in 17 of 45 (37.8%) cases of lung cancer. In cases with high-level tissue eosinophilic infiltration, the count of eosinophil in tumor tissues was significantly higher than that in corresponding normal lung tissue (P < 0.05). In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the rate of high-level tissue eosinophilic infiltration cases was significantly higher than that of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) (P < 0.05). IL-5 was expressed at a high level in all 45 cases of lung cancer and at a low level in corresponding normal lung tissues. Eosinophilic infiltration was not correlated with the expression of IL-5 in lung cancer tissues (r = 0.026, P > 0.05).
Conclusion:
High-level eosinophilic infiltration of tumor tissues is found in some cases of lung cancer. Compared with SCLC, the rate of high-level tissue eosinophilic infiltration cases of NSCLC is significantly elevated. There is no correlation between the eosinophilic infiltration and the expression of IL-5 in lung cancer tissues.
