Open AccessHypofractionated stereotactic radiation therapy activates the peripheral immune response in operable stage I non-small-cell lung cancer
Author(s) -
Ting Zhang,
Hong Yu,
Chao Ni,
Tao Zhang,
Luying Liu,
Qinghua Lv,
Zhigang Zhang,
Zhen Wang,
Dang Wu,
Pin Wu,
Guodi Chen,
Liancong Wang,
Qichun Wei,
Jian Huang,
Xiaojian Wang
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
scientific reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.24
H-Index - 213
ISSN - 2045-2322
DOI - 10.1038/s41598-017-04978-x
Subject(s) - immune system , granzyme b , peripheral , cd8 , medicine , cancer research , intracellular , immunology , biology , microbiology and biotechnology
It has been reported that in patients with operable stage I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), overall survival (OS) is better in those who undergo hypofractionated stereotactic radiation therapy (HSRT) than in those who undergo surgery. However, the reason that HSRT has a better OS has not been fully explored. Here, we analyzed reconstitution kinetics in immune cells in the peripheral blood of NSCLC patients after HSRT. We found that HSRT increased the frequency of total T cells, especially the proportion of CD8 + T cells, but decreased the frequency of inhibitory Tregs. Intracellular staining showed that after HSRT, peripheral CD8 + T cells were transformed into activated T cells, which express high levels of TNF-α, IFN-γ, granzyme B and IL-2. HSRT also increased the production of IL-2, TNF-α, and IFN-γ but down-regulated the production of TGF-β in CD4 + T cells. The frequencies of naïve B cells and double-negative B cells were lower, while the proportions of MZ-like B cells, transitional B cells and plasmablast cells were higher after HSRT. Collectively, our results demonstrate that HSRT activates the peripheral immune response and indicate the dynamic variation in peripheral lymphocytes after HSRT, which is very important for optimizing combination treatments in clinical practice.