title: [The prognostic value of cellular immunity function in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the changes of cellular immunity function in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its correlation with disease severity.
  
  
  METHODS
  T lymphocyte subsets and CD28 co-stimulation molecule in CD8+ T cells in 22 HCC patients were detected using three-color flow cytometry. Serum interleukin-2 (IL-2), transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFbeta1), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were determined by ELISA and radioimmunoassay. A group of 30 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), liver cirrhosis (LC), or normal adults (NC) served as controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with NC, the number of CD8+CD28- T cells increased and CD8+CD28+ T cells decreased in patients with HCC. The number of CD4+ T cells, CD4+/CD8+ ratios, IL-2 level all decreased and CD8+ T cells, IL-6, TGFbeta1 levels all increased in patients with HCC, LC and CHB. The CD4+ T cells, CD4+/CD8+ ratios and IL-2 level in patients with HCC were lower than those with CHB. Serum IL-6 and TGFbeta1 in patients with HCC were higher than those with LC and CHB. The levels of IL-6 and TGFbeta1 correlated with the stages of the tumors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HCC patients have a cellular immunity dysfunction. Rectifying the imbalanced function could be a potential way for treating HCC. Measurement of these factors would be useful for early diagnosis and evaluating the prognoses of these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious Diseases, the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050051, China. kongliyouxiang@sina.com
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Shu-kun
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Jin-xing
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018106:CD28 Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000276:immunology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D016176:T-Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D018106:CD28 Antigens