[Phagocytic function of monocytes and neutrophil granulocytes in ovarian cancer]

Recently, tumor-infiltrating immune cells have been studied in various cancers. However, fewer studies address the role of peripheral immune cells in the pathogenesis of cancer.

Our aim was to investigate whether the phagocytic activity of peripheral monocytes and neutrophil granulocytes is affected by the removal of tumor in advanced ovarian cancer.

We investigated peripheral blood samples from 12 patients with advanced stage of serous epithelial ovarian cancer - which were collected before the optimal tumor reduction surgery and on the 7th postoperative day - and from 8 healthy women. After separation of monocytes and neutrophils, the cells were incubated with opsonized fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled zymosan A particles as the target of phagocytosis. By using fluorescence microscope we counted the number of particles phagocytized by the cells and calculated the phagocytic index. Statistical analysis of the data was performed using analysis of variances method.

Preoperative phagocytic indexes of monocytes and neutrophils from patients were significantly lower than phagocytic indexes of the corresponding cells from healthy women. The phagocytic function of monocytes and granulocytes isolated from postoperative samples of patients significantly increased compared to preoperative values and reached the phagocytic indexes of monocytes and neutrophils from healthy controls.

Based on our results we assume that the tumor and/or its microenvironment in ovarian cancer may produce factors that can depress the phagocytic function of monocytes and granulocytes. Since the phagocytic indexes increased following the cytoreductive surgery, it can be assumed that after the removal of the tumor, the production of these factors is reduced or eliminated. Orv Hetil. 2018; 159(33): 1353-1359.