[Clinical significance of the proportion of CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells in peripheral blood of hepatocellular carcinoma patients: a report of 117 cases].
OBJECTIVE
CD4+CD25+ regulatory T (Treg) cells, a subset of T cells, can suppress immune responses. Recent studies showed that Treg cells may significantly suppress immune responses, and lead to immune tolerance of tumor cells. However, the clinical significance of Treg cells in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still unclear. This study was to investigate the correlations of the proportion of Treg cells in peripheral blood to clinical characteristics and prognosis of HCC.


METHODS
The proportion of Treg cells in peripheral blood of 117 HCC patients, who underwent radical resection in Cancer Center of Sun Yat-sen University from Jan. 1999 through Dec. 2000, was detected by flow cytometry before operation. The proportion of Treg cells in peripheral blood of 40 healthy blood donors was detected as control. All the patients had been followed up till Dec. 30th, 2005. The correlations of Treg cell proportion to clinicopathologic characteristics and prognosis of HCC were analyzed.


RESULTS
The proportion of Treg cells in peripheral blood was significantly higher in HCC group than in control group [(12.54+/-4.69)% vs. (8.81+/-1.98)%, P < 0.01]. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates of the HCC patients were 83.8%, 49.6%, and 35.9%, respectively. In the 92 patients with single tumor, the proportion of Treg cells was significantly lower in the patients with clear tumor margin than in those with unclear tumor margin [(12.18+/-4.76)% vs. (15.52+/-5.45)%, P < 0.05]. The proportion of Treg cells had no correlations to other clinicopathologic characteristics of HCC (P>0.05). The 5-year survival rate was significantly higher in the patients with high proportion of Treg cells than in those with low proportion of Treg cells (43.9% vs. 28.3%, P = 0.047).


CONCLUSIONS
The elevation of the proportion of circulating Treg cells is an independent prognostic factor of HCC.
Peng
Qi-Quan
QQ
State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510060, P. R. China.
Li
Sheng-Ping
SP
Xu
Li
L
Li
Jin-Qing
JQ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit / Q000276:immunology*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015996:Survival Rate; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*
D015704:CD4 Antigens; D053645:Interleukin-2 Receptor alpha Subunit