Pulmonary lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma: predominant infiltration of tumor-associated cytotoxic T lymphocytes might represent the enhanced tumor immunity

Intern Med. 2004 Apr;43(4):323-6. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.43.323.

Abstract

Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LELC) of the lung is an undifferentiated carcinoma with prominent lymphoid stroma. We encountered a case of synchronous primary lung cancers of LELC and papillary adenocarcinoma in a 67-year-old Japanese woman. By in situ hybridization, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) genome was detected in malignant epithelial cells of LELC but not in the papillary adenocarcinoma. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in LELC were predominantly CD8+ and T cell intracytoplasmic antigen (TIA-1)+ cytotoxic T cells with closely associated with HLA-DR-positive LELC cells by double immunostaining. These data indicate that the exaggerated lymphoid infiltration in and around the EBV-infected carcinoma cells may represent the enhanced tumor immunity, suggesting a better prognostic indicator.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma, Papillary / pathology
  • Aged
  • Female
  • Herpesvirus 4, Human / isolation & purification*
  • Humans
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • In Situ Hybridization
  • Lung Neoplasms / immunology*
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology
  • Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / immunology*
  • Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / immunology*
  • Neoplasms, Multiple Primary / pathology
  • T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / immunology*
  • T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / metabolism