title: Are immunological mechanisms involved in colon cancer and are they possible markers for biotherapy improvement?
abstract: This paper focuses on our data on colon cancer patients. Our overall results lead us to believe that the suppressive effect of specific cytokines in colon cancer patients alters the functionality of TH1 and TH2 subsets of CD4+ T-cells, with an expansion of TH2 cells and a malfunctioning of TH1 cells. This immunological disregulation appears to increase with stage progression, suggesting a direct role in the mechanisms that allow the tumour to locate and expand within the host. It is also clear that in order to identify disease markers and generate an in vivo immune response that corrects the imbalance between TH1 and TH2 cells, we need to understand how tumour mechanisms cause this imbalance to begin with.
authors.affiliation: CNR Institute of Organ Transplantation and Immuncytology (ITOI), L'Aquila, Italy. a.berghella@itoi.cnr.it
authors.forename: Anna Maria
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Berghella
authors.forename: Ida
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Contasta
authors.forename: Patrizia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pellegrini
authors.forename: Tiziana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Del Beato
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Adorno
mesh_terms: D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000276:immunology; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000276:immunology; D017730:Ki-1 Antigen / Q000276:immunology; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D007376:Interleukin-2; D017730:Ki-1 Antigen