[Immunohistochemical and cytochemical analysis of lymphocytes and plasma cells in nasopharyngeal carcinoma].

Cytoplasmic IgA+, IgG+ and IgM+ in plasma cells, present in biopsy tissue of 68 patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and 40 patients with chronic nasopharyngitis (CN), were studied by immunoperoxidase (PAP) technique. EB virus VCA-IgA serum antibody in all these patients was determined. At the same time, the activity of T lymphocytes of 41 patients (23 with NPC and 18 with CN) was investigated by alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase (ANAE) method. The number of T lymphocytes in NPC was far less than that in CN. This suggests that the impediment or deficiency in cellular immunity may promote the development and growth of tumor. The number of IgA+ plasma cells in NPC was obviously more than that in CN. As the increase in the level of VCA-IgA serum antibody in NPC patients corresponded to the increase in the number of IgA+ plasma cells in the tumor tissue, it was presumed that part of the IgA+ plasma cells might participate in the production and introduction of VCA-IgA antibody. We suggest that the examination of VCA-IgA serum antibody be a reliable screening test for NPC. No significant difference was found in the numbers of IgG+ plasma cells between NPC and CN. IgM+ plasma cells were rare in both.