Liu Jingjing, Wang Haoyu, Wang Xiaotao, Jassem Jacek, Si Jiming, Liu Yuanhua, Jin Jianjun
Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy, Medical University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Transl Cancer Res. 2025 Mar 30;14(3):1995-2009. doi: 10.21037/tcr-2025-178. Epub 2025 Mar 27.
Lung cancer is among the most common malignant tumors worldwide. Circulating mucosal-associated invariant T (cMAIT) cells play an important role in cancer. This study investigated the biological and clinical significance of cMAIT cells in lung cancer.
Fasting peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were extracted from 30 newly diagnosed lung cancer patients and 30 healthy controls. The percentages of cMAIT among the CD3T cells, their absolute values, and subpopulation distribution in both groups were compared by flow cytometry. The correlations of cMAIT with the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the expression of programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) were analyzed. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect plasma interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) levels in lung cancer patients and healthy controls. The percentage of MAIT cells in the tumor tissues and adjacent normal lung tissues was measured by flow cytometry.
The percentages and absolute values of the cMAIT in lung cancer patients were lower than in healthy subjects (P<0.001, P<0.01, respectively). The CD8CD4 subgroup was dominant in both groups. There was no significant difference in percentages of the CD8CD4 subgroup between lung cancer patients and healthy subjects (P=0.63), but the absolute values of CD8CD4 cells were lower in lung cancer patients (P<0.05). The percentages and absolute values of cMAIT in lung cancer patients were negatively correlated with NLR (r=-0.537; P<0.01 and r=-0.423; P<0.05, respectively). The cMAIT cell percentage did not correlate with PD-L1 tumor expression (r=-0.1740; P=0.59) and with the PD-L1 expression level (P>0.99). No differences were found in the plasma IL-6, IL-8, and IFN-γ levels in lung cancer patients and healthy controls (P=0.63, P=0.052, P=0.13, respectively). The percentage of mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells in lung cancer tissues was higher than in the adjacent normal lung tissues (1.44% 1.29%, P=0.044).
Lower percentage and absolute values of cMAIT in lung cancer patients may be due to their migration into tissues. The number of cMAIT in lung cancer patients may potentially be considered as a prognostic indicator.
肺癌是全球最常见的恶性肿瘤之一。循环黏膜相关恒定T细胞（cMAIT）在癌症中发挥重要作用。本研究调查了cMAIT细胞在肺癌中的生物学和临床意义。
从30例新诊断的肺癌患者和30例健康对照中提取空腹外周血单个核细胞（PBMC）。通过流式细胞术比较两组中CD3⁺T细胞中cMAIT的百分比、其绝对值以及亚群分布。分析cMAIT与中性粒细胞与淋巴细胞比值（NLR）以及程序性细胞死亡配体1（PD-L1）表达的相关性。采用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）检测肺癌患者和健康对照血浆中白细胞介素-6（IL-6）、白细胞介素-8（IL-8）和干扰素-γ（IFN-γ）水平。通过流式细胞术测量肿瘤组织和相邻正常肺组织中MAIT细胞的百分比。
肺癌患者中cMAIT的百分比和绝对值均低于健康受试者（分别为P<0.001，P<0.01）。两组中CD8⁺CD4⁻亚群均占主导。肺癌患者和健康受试者之间CD8⁺CD4⁻亚群的百分比无显著差异（P=0.63），但肺癌患者中CD8⁺CD4⁻细胞的绝对值较低（P<0.05）。肺癌患者中cMAIT的百分比和绝对值与NLR呈负相关（分别为r=-0.537；P<0.01和r=-0.423；P<0.05）。cMAIT细胞百分比与PD-L1肿瘤表达（r=-0.1740；P=0.59）以及PD-L1表达水平均无相关性（P>0.99）。肺癌患者和健康对照血浆中IL-6、IL-8和IFN-γ水平无差异（分别为P=0.63，P=0.052，P=0.13）。肺癌组织中黏膜相关恒定T（MAIT）细胞的百分比高于相邻正常肺组织（1.44% 1.29%，P=0.044）。
肺癌患者中cMAIT的百分比和绝对值较低可能是由于其迁移至组织中。肺癌患者中cMAIT的数量可能有望作为一项预后指标。
