Immunocytochemical analysis of cellular infiltrates in primary glial and metastatic tumors in human brain.

Forty eight human brain tumors: 31 primary glial tumors and 17 metastasizing neoplasms were submitted for an immunocytochemical characterization of mononuclear cell infiltrates in tumor tissue and in its surroundings, with antibodies CD 68, CD45RO, UHCL1, EMB11, CD21 and OPD4. It was found that cells were mainly marked with CD68 and CD45RO, UHCL1. The counting of the marked and unmarked mononuclear cells proved that there is a high degree of variability in cell density which is tumor type and case depended. The results indicate that there were fewer cells which reacted to the antibody EMB11 as compared with cells marked with other antibodies. With CD21 and OPD4 only single cells were marked. A great number of cells remained unmarked. There was a significant difference between the primary glial and the metastatic tumors as far as the number of marked cells is concerned. It is suggested that the difference between primary and metastatic tumors in the number of mononuclear cell infiltrates can be connected with a possibility that the metastatic tumor will present its antigenicity easier as compared with primary tumors of glial origin.