Myeloid and lymphoid dendritic cells in the peritoneal fluid of women with ovarian cancer.

PURPOSE The aim of the study was to estimate the myeloid and lymphoid subpopulation of dendritic cells (DCs) in the peritoneal fluid (PF) of women with ovarian tumors. MATERIAL AND METHODS We studied 34 patients with serous cystadenocarcinoma and 29 women with serous cystadenoma. Dendritic cells were isolated from peritoneal fluid, stained with monoclonal antibodies anti-BDCA-1 and anti-BDCA-2 and estimated using flow cytometry. RESULTS Peritoneal fluid myeloid DCs constituted 0.59% of mononuclear cells in patients with ovarian cancer and 7.2% in women with serous cystadenoma. Lymphoid DCs constituted 0.39% of PF mononuclears in women with ovarian cancer and 0.07% in patients with serous cystadenoma. The percentage of lymphoid DCs was higher in patients with ovarian cancer than in women with serous cystadenoma. The BDCA-1/BDCA-2 DCs ratio in peritoneal fluid of patients with serous cystadenoma was significantly higher in comparison to ovarian cancer. CONCLUSIONS Decreased BDCA-1/BDCA-2 DCs ratio in patients with ovarian cancer may favour Th2 lymphocyte differentiation and/or induction of immunological tolerance.