EXPRESSION OF INTERCELLULAR-ADHESION MOLECULE-1 AND VASCULAR CELL-ADHESION MOLECULE-1 IN UNDIFFERENTIATED NASOPHARYNGEAL CARCINOMA (LYMPHOEPITHELIOMA) AND IN MALIGNANT EPITHELIAL TUMORS

Immunoreactivity for intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and fo r vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), two adhesion molecules o f the immunoglobulin (Ig) superfamily, was tested and measured on tiss ue sections from 16 undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinomas (U-NPC) , 12 keratinizing squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) of the head and neck region, and 54 malignant epithelial tumors of various origin. Neoplas tic cells of all cases of U-NPC were diffusely and intensely stained f or ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. Moreover, ICAM-1 messenger RNA (mRNA) and VCAM-1 mRNA were detected by Northern blot analysis of RNA extracts from two tumors. In the other epithelial tumors focal or diffuse staining for ICAM-1 was observed in 40 cases (66%), whereas reactivity for VCAM-1 w as detected in a single case of metastatic undifferentiated carcinoma of unknown origin. The biopsy specimens of U-NPC showed variable infil tration by leukocytes, which were positive for the integrins lymphocyt e function antigen-1 (LFA-1) and alpha-4/beta-1, the corresponding lig ands for ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. The possibility that ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 on neoplastic cells may favor the intratumoral recruitment of leukocytes in a way similar to that occurring in crypt epithelium of the palatine tonsil is discussed. HUM PATHOL 25:924-928. Copyright (C) 1994 by W.B . Saunders Company