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Increased CD4 + CD69 + CD25 ‐ T cells in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma are associated with tumor progression
Author(s) -
Zhu Jiankang,
Feng Alei,
Sun Jintang,
Jiang Zhenzhong,
Zhang Guangyong,
Wang Kexin,
Hu Sanyuan,
Qu Xun
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of gastroenterology and hepatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.214
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1440-1746
pISSN - 0815-9319
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1746.2011.06765.x
Subject(s) - il 2 receptor , medicine , cd69 , hepatocellular carcinoma , flow cytometry , cancer research , gastroenterology , immunology , t cell , immune system
Background and Aim: A new subset of Treg cells, CD4 + CD69 + CD25 ‐ T cells, has been identified in mice. Herein, we aimed to identify this subset of T cells and to evaluate its function in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: We detected CD4 + CD69 + CD25 ‐ T cells and its expression of CCR6 and transforming growth factor‐β1 (TGF‐β1) in peripheral blood of 91 HCC patients, 38 chronic hepatitis patients and 34 healthy donors by flow cytometry. CD4 + CD69 + CD25 ‐ T cells in HCC tissues were also analyzed. Results: CD4 + CD69 + CD25 ‐ T cells were significantly increased in peripheral blood of HCC patients compared with healthy persons and chronic hepatitis patients (8.74% ± 0.42% vs 4.55% ± 0.33% and 5.15% ± 0.36%, P < 0.0001). The percentage of peripheral CD4 + CD69 + CD25 ‐ T cells was significantly higher in HCC patients with Tumor Node Metastasis (TNM) stage III plus IV ( P < 0.05). Patients with large tumor size and tumor vascular invasion were inclined to obtain high percentage of CD4 + CD69 + CD25 ‐ T cells ( P < 0.05). The frequency of membrane‐bound TGF‐β1 positive cells in CD4 + CD69 + CD25 ‐ T cells from HCC patients was higher than that from the other two groups ( P < 0.0001). A considerable proportion of CD4 + CD69 + CD25 ‐ T cells were present in HCC tissues, which has significant correlation with tumor size and TNM stage. Few CD4 + CD69 + CD25 ‐ T cells express CCR6 both in peripheral blood and tumor tissues from HCC patients. Conclusions: Increased CD4 + CD69 + CD25 ‐ T cells in HCC patients are significantly correlated with tumor size, vascular invasion and TNM stage. Thus, increased CD4 + CD69 + CD25 ‐ T cells exert a critical role in HCC progression and might be a clinically aggressive phenotype of HCC.