BACKGROUNDNon-invasive nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) screening usually involves serological testing for the presence of IgA antibodies to Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) capsid antigen (VCA). The present meta-analysis determined the accuracy of VCA-IgA in the diagnosis of NPC.

METHODSA systematic review of studies was conducted and data on the accuracy of VCA-IgA concentrations in the diagnosis of NPC were pooled using random effects models. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to summarize the overall test performance.

RESULTSTwenty studies met the inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis. The summary estimates for VCA-IgA in the diagnosis of NPC were: sensitivity 0.91 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.90 - 0.92), specificity 0.92 (95%CI: 0.92 - 0.93), positive likelihood ratio 31.65 (95%CI: 10.99 - 91.15), negative likelihood ratio 0.10 (95%CI: 0.07 - 0.13) and diagnostic odds ratio 414.59 (95%CI: 174.96 - 982.42). The area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curves was 0.98.

CONCLUSIONThe sensitivity and the specificity of serum VCA-IgA are very high, suggesting that the presence of VCA-IgA in peripheral blood is a valuable predictor for NPC.

Antigens, Viral ; immunology ; Capsid Proteins ; immunology ; Carcinoma ; diagnosis ; immunology ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin A ; immunology ; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; immunology

Humans ; Immunotherapy ; Neoplasms ; immunology ; therapy

To explore the relationship between T cell markers in hematological diseases and T cell markers in solid tumor, CD3, CD4, CD8 in hematological diseases, malignant and benign tumors were detected by flow cytometry and results were analyzed statistically. The results showed that CD3, CD4, CD8 and CD4/CD8 in chronic leukemia decreased significantly while these markers in acute leukemia and MDS decreased obviously in comparison with normal persons and other hematological diseases (P < 0.0l). Hemolytic anemia markers increased significantly (P < 0.05). CD3, CD4, CD4/CD8 in idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura decreased and CD8 increased (P < 0.0l). CD3, CD4, CD8 in iron-deficiency anemia, anemia from chronic diseases, benign tumor and other hematological diseases were lower than those in normal persons and hemolytic anemia, but higher than those in acute and chronic leukemia, malignant tumor, granulocytopenia, and MDS (P > 0.05). It is notable that the above markers correlated with the development and prognosis of diseases. In conclusion, expression of CD3, CD4, CD8, CD4/CD8 contributes to diagnosis of hematological diseases and benign or malignant tumors, and is an important indicator for therapeutic strategy.
Anemia ; immunology ; CD4-CD8 Ratio ; Hematologic Diseases ; immunology ; Humans ; Leukemia ; immunology ; Myelodysplastic Syndromes ; immunology ; Neoplasms ; immunology ; T-Lymphocyte Subsets ; immunology

The study of tumor vaccine is one of the focus of immunological therapy on malignant gynecologic cancer. All of the ovarian carcinoma vaccine are therapeutic, including cloned antigen vaccine, tumor cell vaccine, genetic engineering tumor cell vaccine, dendritic cell (DC) vaccine, as well as anti-idiotypic vaccine. The therapeutic vaccines based on human papillomavirus (HPV) of cervical cancer are mostly summarized, including polypeptides vaccine, carrier vaccine, fusion protein or chimeric vaccine, and DC vaccine. The preventive vaccine based on HPV of cervical cancer are briefly introduced. As there are only a few reports on endometrial carcinoma vaccine.
Cancer Vaccines ; biosynthesis ; immunology ; Dendritic Cells ; immunology ; Female ; Genetic Engineering ; Humans ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; immunology ; Papillomaviridae ; immunology ; Papillomavirus Infections ; immunology ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; immunology ; Vaccines, DNA ; immunology

Antigens, Neoplasm ; immunology ; Cancer Vaccines ; immunology ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; immunology ; therapy ; Humans ; Immunotherapy ; Liver Neoplasms ; immunology ; therapy

Tumor antigen-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes are important anti-cancer cells. The focuses of this review are to introduce the molecular basis of antigen presentation and CTL recognition, to summarize the identification of tumor associated antigens and their T cell epitopes, to highlight the current insights into the immunogenicity of TAA peptides and the principles of peptide-based vaccines against cancer, and to comment on future prospects for CTL therapy.
Animals ; Antigens, Neoplasm ; immunology ; Cancer Vaccines ; immunology ; Humans ; Immunotherapy ; Neoplasms ; immunology ; therapy ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic ; immunology

Bromodeoxyuridine, an analogue of thymidine, can be detected by means of monoclonal antibodies and utilized as a marker of the S-phase of the cell cycle. In vitro immunohistochemical application of the BrdU/anti-BrdU-MAb method permits a quantitative assessment of the proliferative activity of a tissue as well as the direct location of the actively replicating cells in histological sections. In this paper, a method for the detection of the labeling index of S-phase cells in normal and neoplastic tissues with in vitro BrdU labeling and standard immunohistochemical techniques using anti-BrdU-MAb and avidin-biotin peroxidase complex is described. We have employed this method in 47 human solid tumor samples, including squamous cell carcinomas of head and neck and cervix uteri, adenocarcinomas and malignant lymphomas, and also evaluated the possible application of the BrdU labeling index to estimate the cycling S-phase cells in neoplastic cell populations. In our data, the in vitro labeling index varied greatly in an individual case (3.56-29.2%) and from an area to an area within the same case. Squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck showed higher LI than those of the cervix uteri. A case of metastatic carcinoma to the lung from ductal carcinoma of the breast had the highest LI (29.2%), in contrast to the low LI (3.6%) in the primary ductal carcinoma of breast.
Adenocarcinoma/immunology/pathology ; Antibodies, Monoclonal/*immunology ; Breast Neoplasms/immunology/pathology ; Bromodeoxyuridine/*immunology ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell/immunology/pathology ; Cell Nucleus/immunology/*physiology ; Head and Neck Neoplasms/immunology/pathology ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; *Interphase ; Lymphoma/immunology/pathology ; Neoplasms/immunology/*pathology

The immune microenvironment plays an important role in the occurrence and development of breast cancer. The infiltrating immune cells and the produced inflammatory cytokines in the tumor microenvironment regulate the growth, proliferation and metastasis of breast cancer. In this article, the roles and related mechanisms of nonspecific immune microenvironment in breast cancer are summarized, focusing on the natural killer cells, dendritic cells, myeloid derived suppressor cells, tumor associated macrophages, interleukins, chemokines, tumor necrosis factor-α, transforming growth factor-β and so on.
Breast Neoplasms ; immunology ; physiopathology ; Chemokines ; immunology ; Dendritic Cells ; immunology ; Humans ; Macrophages ; immunology ; Research ; trends ; Tumor Microenvironment ; immunology

Cytokines are secreted by various cell types and act as critical mediators in many physiological processes, including immune response and tumor progression. Cytokines production is precisely and timely regulated by multiple mechanisms at different levels, ranging from transcriptional to post-transcriptional and posttranslational processes. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 induced protein 1 (MCPIP1), a potent immunosuppressive protein, was first described as a transcription factor in monocytes treated with monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and subsequently found to possess intrinsic RNase and deubiquitinase activities. MCPIP1 tightly regulates cytokines expression via various functions. Furthermore, cytokines such as interleukin 1 beta (IL-1B) and MCP-1 and inflammatory cytokines inducer lipopolysaccharide (LPS) strongly induce MCPIP1 expression. Mutually regulated MCPIP1 and cytokines form a complicated network in the tumor environment. In this review, we summarize how MCPIP1 and cytokines reciprocally interact and elucidate the effect of the network formed by these components in cancer-related immunity with aim of exploring potential clinical benefits of their mutual regulation.
Chemokine CCL2/immunology* ; Humans ; Interleukin-1beta/immunology* ; Neoplasm Proteins/immunology* ; Neoplasms/pathology* ; Ribonucleases/immunology* ; Transcription Factors/immunology*

Up to 15% of male infertility has an immunological origin, either due to repetitive infections or to autoimmune responses mainly affecting the epididymis, prostate, and testis. Clinical observations and epidemiological data clearly contradict the idea that the testis confers immune protection to the whole male genital tract. As a consequence, the epididymis, in which posttesticular spermatozoa mature and are stored, has raised some interest in recent years when it comes to its immune mechanisms. Indeed, sperm cells are produced at puberty, long after the establishment of self-tolerance, and they possess unique surface proteins that cannot be recognized as self. These are potential targets of the immune system, with the risk of inducing autoantibodies and consequently male infertility. Epididymal immunity is based on a finely tuned equilibrium between efficient immune responses to pathogens and strong tolerance to sperm cells. These processes rely on incompletely described molecules and cell types. This review compiles recent studies focusing on the immune cell types populating the epididymis, and proposes hypothetical models of the organization of epididymal immunity with a special emphasis on the immune response, while also discussing important aspects of the epididymal immune regulation such as tolerance and tumour control.
Adaptive Immunity ; Animals ; Epididymis/immunology* ; Fertility/immunology* ; Genital Neoplasms, Male/immunology* ; Humans ; Immunity, Innate ; Infertility, Male/immunology* ; Male ; Spermatozoa/immunology*