Ee. Hillenbrand et al., Immunohistochemical localization of CD1a-positive putative dendritic cellsin human breast tumours, BR J CANC, 79(5-6), 1999, pp. 940-944
The presence of a high number of infiltrating CD1a(+) cells in malignant ne
oplasms has been reported to be associated with an improved prognosis, redu
ced tumour recurrence and fewer metastases. This study identified a populat
ion of CD1a(+) cells within the lymphoid cell infiltrate in human ductal br
east carcinoma (n = 52), which was significantly different from normal brea
st tissue, in which only two out of nine cases expressed CD1a(+) cells (P =
0.0192). in the majority of cases. the infiltrate was tow compared with th
e number of macrophages and T cells present (results not shown). There was
no correlation between the number of CD1a(+) cells and tumour grade, with a
ll tumour grades expressing similar numbers of infiltrating CD1a(+) cells.
There was clear evidence, however, that the CD1a(+) cells were closely asso
ciated with tumour cells. It is likely that CD1a(+) cells have a role in an
tigen capture and presentation in human tumours, and this study documents t
he density of CD1a(+) cells in a large sample of all histological grades of
human breast carcinomas.