The role of the spleen in gastric cancer patients -From the aspects of lymphocytes in splenic arterial and venous blood-

Abstract

WBC count, percentage of lymphocyte to WBC, lymphocyte count and lymphocyte subsets were analysed in splenic arterial and venous blood of gastric cancer patients, and the role of the spleen on their immunological responses was investigated. For this study, 67 patients with gastric cancer, from stage I to IV, were used, and lymphocyte subsets were analysed by a flow cytometry using various monoclonal antibodies.
There were statistical differences in WBC count, lymphocyte count and lymphocyte subsets of CD 8⁺ CD 11⁺, CD 57^- CD 16⁺ and CD 57⁺ CD 16^- cells between stage IV and I. There were, however, no differences of these measurements between splenic artery and splenic vein in all stages. Splenic vein/splenic artery (SV/SA) ratio of each subset was compared among four stages. CD 8⁺ CD 11⁺ cells were superior and CD 8⁺ CD 11^- cells and CD 57^- CD 16⁺ cells were inferior in splenic venous blood to splenic arterial blood of stage IV patients.
These data suggest that the splenic circulation results in an increase of suppressor T cells and decrease of cytotoxic T cells and a part of NK cells in stage IV patients. Therefore, the patients with stage IV gastric cancer were characterised by negative immunological responces expressed by splenic circulation.