Cheng Gui, Li Min, Wu Jun, Ji Mei, Fang Cheng, Shi Hongbing, Zhu Danxia, Chen Lujun, Zhao Jiemin, Shi Liangrong, Xu Bin, Zheng Xiao, Wu Changping, Jiang Jingting
Department of Tumor Biological Treatment, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University 185 Juqian Street, Changzhou 213003, P. R. China.
Int J Clin Exp Pathol. 2015 Aug 1;8(8):9452-7. eCollection 2015.
As a negative regulatory molecule, T-cell immunoglobulin-and mucin domain-3 (Tim-3) plays a crucial role in the tumor immunological tolerance. In the present study, we aimed to determine the Tim-3 expression in gastric cancer tissue and its relationship with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis. The Tim-3 expression was assessed in 52 gastric cancer specimens and 15 gastritis tissues by flow cytometry, and gastritis tissues served as the control. As a result, we found that the Tim-3 expressions on CD4(+)T cells and CD8(+)T cells in gastric cancer tissue was significantly higher than those in gastritis tissue (P=0.022, P=0.047, respectively). The median expression level of Tim-3 on CD4(+)T cells were significantly correlated with clinicopathological parameters, such as tumor size, lymph node metastasis, the depth of tumor invasion and TNM staging (P=0.042, P=0.026, P=0.001, P=0.003, respectively), while it was not correlated with sex, age and histological subtype (all P>0.05). In CD8(+)T cells, the Tim-3 expression was relevant to tumor invasion and TNM staging (P=0.035, P=0.017, respectively), while it was irrelevant to other clinicopathological parameters (all P>0.05). Additionally, Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that the median overall survival time of patients with lower Tim-3 expression was greater than that of patients with higher Tim-3 expression in CD4(+)T cells and CD8(+)T cells (χ(2)=18.036, P<0.001 and χ(2)=18.036, P<0.001, respectively). Moreover, the multivariate analysis revealed that the Tim-3 expression and TNM stage were independent prognostic factors for gastric cancer patients (P=0.029, P=0.043 and P=0.003, respectively). These results suggest that Tim-3 played an important role in the development and progression of gastric cancer, and it could be used as an independent prognostic factor for gastric cancer patients.
作为一种负性调节分子，T细胞免疫球蛋白黏蛋白结构域3（Tim-3）在肿瘤免疫耐受中发挥关键作用。在本研究中，我们旨在确定Tim-3在胃癌组织中的表达及其与临床病理参数和预后的关系。通过流式细胞术评估了52例胃癌标本和15例胃炎组织中的Tim-3表达，以胃炎组织作为对照。结果，我们发现胃癌组织中CD4(+)T细胞和CD8(+)T细胞上的Tim-3表达显著高于胃炎组织（分别为P = 0.022，P = 0.047）。CD4(+)T细胞上Tim-3的中位表达水平与肿瘤大小、淋巴结转移、肿瘤浸润深度和TNM分期等临床病理参数显著相关（分别为P = 0.042，P = 0.026，P = 0.001，P = 0.003），而与性别、年龄和组织学亚型无关（所有P>0.05）。在CD8(+)T细胞中，Tim-3表达与肿瘤浸润和TNM分期相关（分别为P = 0.035，P = 0.017），而与其他临床病理参数无关（所有P>0.05）。此外，Kaplan-Meier生存曲线显示，CD4(+)T细胞和CD8(+)T细胞中Tim-3表达较低的患者的中位总生存时间长于Tim-3表达较高的患者（分别为χ(2)=18.036，P<0.001和χ(2)=18.036，P<0.001）。此外，多因素分析显示，Tim-3表达和TNM分期是胃癌患者的独立预后因素（分别为P = 0.029，P = 0.043和P = 0.003）。这些结果表明，Tim-3在胃癌的发生发展中起重要作用，并且可作为胃癌患者的独立预后因素。
