The proliferative properties of tumor cells differentially correlate with the host immune responses in anogenital Bowen's disease

Bowen's disease is a squamous cell carcinoma in situ that rarely invades in to the underlying dermis. In order to evaluate the relationship between the cytological properties of the tumor cells and the host immune response, we have examined the expression of p53 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and the number of mitotic cells, clumping cells, koilocytes, Lange rhans cells (LCs) and dermal lymphoid cell infiltration in 18 cases of anog enital Bowen's disease. When compared with normal anogenital skins (n=10), a statistically significant number of p53-positive cells, PCNA-positive cel ls, mitotic cells, clumping cells, koilocytes and dermal lymphoid cells was observed in the cases of Bowen's disease. Importantly, there existed a ver y strong correlation between the number of PCNA-positive tumor cells and th e number of infiltrated dermal lymphoid cells. Moreover, the number of mito tic cells significantly correlated with the number of intratumoral LCs. The in situ hybridization technique for human papilloma virus (HPV) demonstrat ed that the HPV-infected Bowen's disease showed a similar histological and immunohistological pattern as the HPV-non-infected counterparts, except for increased koilocyte formation and decreased p53 positivity. The present da ta suggest that the proliferative activity of Bowen's disease significantly correlates with the host immune reaction, and that the host immune system may differentially recognize the different cytological properties of tumor cells in the Bowen's disease. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All ri ghts reserved.