The prognostic relevance of tumour-infiltrating plasma cells and immunoglobulin kappa C indicates an important role of the humoral immune response in non-small cell lung cancer.

The prognostic relevance of tumour-infiltrating plasma cells and immunoglobulin kappa C indicates an important role of the humoral immune response in non-small cell lung cancer.

Cancer letters (2013-02-02)

Miriam Lohr, Karolina Edlund, Johan Botling, Seddik Hammad, Birte Hellwig, Amnah Othman, Anders Berglund, Mats Lambe, Lars Holmberg, Simon Ekman, Michael Bergqvist, Fredrik Pontén, Cristina Cadenas, Rosemarie Marchan, Jan G Hengstler, Jörg Rahnenführer, Patrick Micke

PMID23370224

摘要

A prognostic impact of immunoglobulin kappa C (IGKC) expression has been described in cancer. We analysed the influence of B-cell and plasma cell markers, as well as IGKC expression, in non-small lung cancer (NSCLC) using immunohistochemistry on a tissue microarray. IGKC protein expression was independently associated with longer survival, with particular impact in the adenocarcinoma subgroup. Moreover, a correlation was seen with CD138+ cells, but not with CD20. CD138 expression revealed a comparable association with survival. In conclusion, IGKC expression in stroma-infiltrating plasma cells is a prognostic marker in NSCLC, supporting emerging treatment concepts that exploit the humoral immune response.