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. 2014 May 9;5(13):4651–4664. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.1701

Figure 1. B cells and B-cell subsets in PBMC and tumor samples of CRC patients and PBMC of healthy controls.

Figure 1

(A) Flow cytometric analyzes of CD19+ cells in PBMCs of healthy controls (n=10), PBMCs of CRC patients (n=46) and single cell suspensions of tumor samples (n=38). The percentage of CD19+ cells in tumor samples is significantly higher than in PBMC of CRC patients (8.9% vs. 5.1% of CD45+ lymphocytic cells, p<0,05). (B) Tumor associated B cells (n=28) contain a higher percentage of activated B cells (defined by positivity for CD19, CD20 and CD86) than PBMCs of CRC patients (n=44) or healthy controls (n=10) (16.8% vs. 4.1/4.5% respectively, p<0,005). (C) CD27+IgD− (memory) B cells are elevated in PBMCs (n=44) and tumor (n=28) of colorectal cancer patients compared to PBMCs of healthy controls (n=10) (19.3/22.7% vs. 8.2%, p<0,05/<0,005 respectively). (D) According to an increase in memory B cells virgin naïve (IgD+/CD27-/CD38-) B cells are decreased in PBMCs (n=44) and tumor samples (n=28) of CRC patients compared to PBMC of healthy controls (n=10) (p<0,05) (E) The percentage of IgD+/CD27-/CD38- naive B cells decreases with UICC stage (n=28, n.s.). (F) Exemplary immunohistochemical staining of CD20 to visualize the intratumoral distribution of tumor-associated B cells, predominantly in peritumorous lymphoid follicles. (G) Immunohistochemical analyzes of Ki-67 in CD20+ cells revealed a strong local proliferation of B cells within tertiary lympoid structures.