Cellular elements of the immune system in the larynx cancer, SEM study

Observations that certain primary tumors (solid ones) are infiltrated by cells which participate in immune responses tend us to examine this problem in spontaneously growing larynx carcinoma (ca. planoepitheliale). Our observations in SEM revealed within but also in surrounding of cancer infiltrations the presence of cellular elements belonging to the immune system like: lymphocytes, monocytes and macrophages. The most numerous of them, lymphocytes, are brought to the surrounding and tumor's territory by very rich vascular network (angiogenesis phenomenon). Bidirectional transmigration of the lymphocytes, observed mainly within the postcapillary venules, takes place through the cytoplasm of endothelial cells. It is most probably that they are lymphocytes of T-type which are involved in a cell mediated mechanisms of the immune response against a tumor. The lymphocytes are responsible also for the presence of monocytes and especially macrophages within a tumor's territory. These facts suggest that the human organism, in certain degree, is able to fight against malignant tissue by similar mechanisms which are involved in the rejection of the graft.