Peng Qi-Quan, Li Sheng-Ping, Xu Li, Li Jin-Qing
State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510060, P. R. China.
Ai Zheng. 2007 Jul;26(7):748-51.
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: CD4+CD25+ regulatory T (Treg) cells, a subset of T cells, can suppress immune responses. Recent studies showed that Treg cells may significantly suppress immune responses, and lead to immune tolerance of tumor cells. However, the clinical significance of Treg cells in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still unclear. This study was to investigate the correlations of the proportion of Treg cells in peripheral blood to clinical characteristics and prognosis of HCC.
The proportion of Treg cells in peripheral blood of 117 HCC patients, who underwent radical resection in Cancer Center of Sun Yat-sen University from Jan. 1999 through Dec. 2000, was detected by flow cytometry before operation. The proportion of Treg cells in peripheral blood of 40 healthy blood donors was detected as control. All the patients had been followed up till Dec. 30th, 2005. The correlations of Treg cell proportion to clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis of HCC were analyzed.
The proportion of Treg cells in peripheral blood was significantly higher in HCC group than in control group [(12.54+/-4.69)% vs. (8.81+/-1.98)%, P < 0.01]. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates of the HCC patients were 83.8%, 49.6%, and 35.9%, respectively. In the 92 patients with single tumor, the proportion of Treg cells was significantly lower in the patients with clear tumor margin than in those with unclear tumor margin [(12.18+/-4.76)% vs. (15.52+/-5.45)%, P < 0.05]. The proportion of Treg cells had no correlations to other clinicopathologic characteristics of HCC (P>0.05). The 5-year survival rate was significantly higher in the patients with high proportion of Treg cells than in those with low proportion of Treg cells (43.9% vs. 28.3%, P = 0.047).
The elevation of the proportion of circulating Treg cells is an independent prognostic factor of HCC.
CD4+CD25+调节性T（Treg）细胞是T细胞的一个亚群，可抑制免疫反应。近期研究表明，Treg细胞可能显著抑制免疫反应，并导致肿瘤细胞的免疫耐受。然而，Treg细胞在肝细胞癌（HCC）中的临床意义仍不明确。本研究旨在探讨外周血中Treg细胞比例与HCC临床特征及预后的相关性。
采用流式细胞术检测1999年1月至2000年12月在中山大学肿瘤防治中心接受根治性切除的117例HCC患者术前外周血中Treg细胞的比例。检测40例健康献血者外周血中Treg细胞的比例作为对照。所有患者均随访至2005年12月30日。分析Treg细胞比例与HCC临床病理特征及预后的相关性。
HCC组外周血中Treg细胞比例显著高于对照组[（12.54±4.69）%对（8.81±1.98）%，P<0.01]。HCC患者的1年、3年和5年生存率分别为83.8%、49.6%和35.9%。在92例单发肿瘤患者中，肿瘤边缘清晰的患者Treg细胞比例显著低于肿瘤边缘不清晰的患者[（12.18±4.76）%对（15.52±5.45）%，P<0.05]。Treg细胞比例与HCC的其他临床病理特征无关（P>0.05）。Treg细胞比例高的患者5年生存率显著高于Treg细胞比例低的患者（43.9%对28.3%，P = 0.047）。
循环Treg细胞比例升高是HCC的独立预后因素。
