Interrelations between hepatic stellate cells and immune system cells in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Our aim was to identify potential correlations between activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) and immune system's cells in patients with viral C hepatocellular carcinoma, by quantifying the percentage of activated HSCs, T-lymphocytes, natural killer cells and B-lymphocytes, in three distinct regions: tumor, transition area and the vicinity tissue (2-5 mm).

We prospectively included 20 samples prelevated at necropsy from patients with HCC and C viral infection. We assessed the percentage of alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), CD45RO, NK1 and CD20 expression using immunohistochemistry and a semi-quantitative scoring method.

We found an inverse correlation between the number of α-SMA-positive HSCs and the number of NK1-positive cells in tumor (p=0.0007), in the transition area/tumor capsule (p=0.024) and in the vicinity tissue (p=0.038). Regarding T-lymphocytes, we have also identified an inverse correlation with the number of α-SMA-positive HSCs in tumor (p=0.0036), in the transition area/tumor capsule (p=0.034) and in the vicinity tissue (p=0.047). We found no correlation between the number of activated HSCs and the number of CD20-positive cells in all three examined areas.

The analysis of HSCs activity within specified areas of tumoral liver tissue may lead to new perspectives in early diagnosis of relapses and in the development of future neoadjuvant therapies.