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Review
. 2019 Aug;8(4):370-377.
doi: 10.21037/hbsn.2019.03.06.

Hepatobiliary surgeons meet immunologists: the case of colorectal liver metastases patients

Matteo Donadon  1   2 , Nina Cortese  3 , Federica Marchesi  2   4 , Matteo Cimino  1 , Alberto Mantovani  2   3   5 , Guido Torzilli  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Hepatobiliary surgeons meet immunologists: the case of colorectal liver metastases patients

Matteo Donadon et al. Hepatobiliary Surg Nutr. 2019 Aug.

Abstract

The burgeoning field of cancer immunology demands a change in the paradigm of cancer patient management. The understanding of the course of a given malignant disease should also include the host immune system as one of the key factors in determining the patient's prognosis. Surgical and medical oncologists need to understand the basic and advanced applications of immunotherapies, which are rapidly evolving, and are nowadays an integral part of the armamentarium for the treatment of cancer patients. In the present work, we review the current knowledge concerning the immune landscape of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients with liver metastases, as recently discovered.

Keywords: Host immune system; colorectal cancer (CRC); colorectal cancer liver metastases; colorectal liver metastases (CLM); immune response; immunotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Case study 1. Immunohistochemical evaluation of CD3 (A), NKp46 (B) and CD68 (C) on CLM paraffin sections from case study 1. Representative pictures showing high density of CD3 and NK cells and low density of macrophages. Scale bar 100 µm (A,C), 30 µm (B); immunohistochemical staining. CLM, colorectal liver metastases.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Case study 2. Immunohistochemical evaluation of CD3 (A), NKp46 (B) and CD68 (C) on CLM paraffin sections from case study 2. Representative pictures showing low density of CD3 and NK cells and high density of macrophages. Scale bar 100 µm (A,C), 30 µm (B); immunohistochemical staining. CLM, colorectal liver metastases.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The Immune contexture in CLM. Representative cartoon of a CLM lesion, showing myeloid cells (monocytes, macrophages), T cells, and NK cells at the tumor invasive margin. Kuppffer cells in the liver parenchyma are also present. CLM, colorectal liver metastases.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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