Abstract

A number of diverse biologic parameters have been assessed prior to treatment in a series of patients with cervical carcinoma. Factors analyzed were HPV DNA presence, MHC class I expression, expression of the oncofetal antigen 5T4, the proportions of macrophages, lymphocytes and granulocytes in cell suspensions prepared from tumors, in vitro colony-forming efficiency (CFE) and a measure of intrinsic radiosensitivity, surviving fraction at 2 Gy. Several associations were found. First, HPV DNA-negative tumors contained a small, but significant, decreased number of tumor infiltrating macrophages compared with HPV DNA-positive tumors. Secondly, patients with HPV-positive tumors were significantly younger than those where no HPV was detected. Thirdly, loss of one or more specific alleles in MHC class I positive tumors resulted in higher numbers of tumor lymphocytes and CFEs. Finally, strong expression of the 5T4 antigen was related to a reduction in the proportion of macrophages in tumor cell suspensions. In addition, for stage I and II patients expression of the MHC class I molecule was associated with improved survival compared with patients with tumors where loss of expression was seen.