• Stefan M Brunner, Ulrich Hahn, Tonia Jeiter, Rebecca Kesselring, Christoph Rubner, Petra Ruemmele, Zsolt Sziklavari, Hans S Hofmann, Hans J Schlitt, and Stefan Fichtner-Feigl.
• Department of Surgery, University Medical Center Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
• Eur Surg Res. 2016 Jan 1; 57 (3-4): 186-196.

BackgroundPulmonary metastases occur in 10-20% of patients with colorectal cancer and significantly influence long-term survival. In this study, the immunological architecture of colorectal lung in comparison to liver metastases and its impact on patient survival were examined.MethodsSpecimens of patients with colorectal lung and liver metastases were stained for HE, CD4, CD8, CD20, CD68 and CD45RO. Besides histomorphological evaluation, immunohistochemical stainings were analyzed for the respective cell numbers separately for tumor area, infiltrative margin and distant lung or liver stroma. These findings were correlated with clinical data and patient outcome.ResultsIn colorectal lung (n = 69) in comparison to liver (n = 222) metastases, the immunological focus is located in the tumor region. A high CD4+ cell infiltration of this area is associated with prolonged survival of patients after resection of colorectal lung metastases [103 ± 33 (high) vs. 37 ± 6 months (low); p = 0.0246]. Patients who were treated with preoperative chemotherapy did not show differences in immune infiltrates compared to chemotherapy-naïve patients.ConclusionColorectal lung and liver metastases showed a distinct immunological architecture. A dense cell infiltration of colorectal lung metastases by CD4+ cells was related to prolonged patient survival. Preoperative chemotherapy did not influence cellular immune infiltrates.© 2016 S. Karger AG, Basel.

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