title: RFA strongly modulates the immune system and anti-tumor immune responses in metastatic liver patients.
abstract: Radiofrequency tumor ablation (RFA) is a therapeutic modality for liver cancer patients inducing localized tumor necrosis with maximal preservation of normal liver parenchyma. We investigated the immunomodulatory effects exerted by RFA treatment in liver cancer patients with metastatic liver lesions (13 patients) or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (4 patients). Analysis of lymphocyte subsets by flow cytometry revealed that after RFA, CD3+ T cells, in particular CD4+, were decreased in metastatic cancer patients, while no change was observed in HCC patients. Moreover, RFA induced trafficking of naïve and memory CD62L+ T cells from circulation to tissues. When characterizing the function of T cells, proliferative response to PHA was strongly increased after 48 h from RFA in metastatic cancer patients. Furthermore, T cells produced IFN-gamma in response to the tumor associated MUC1 antigen. In contrast, humoral immune responses against tumor antigens such as MUC1 and HCV proteins were unaffected by RFA treatment, although increase of circulating B cells was observed only in metastatic cancer patients. These results indicate that RFA application can exert an activating effect on the immune system in metastatic cancer patients, favouring trafficking of lymphocyte subsets and enhancing tumor antigen specific cellular immune responses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, University of Rome Sapienza, Viale Regina Elena 324, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Napoletano
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Taurino
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Biffoni
authors.forename: Adriano
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: De Majo
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Coscarella
authors.forename: Filippo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bellati
authors.forename: Hassan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rahimi
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pauselli
authors.forename: Ilenia
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pellicciotta
authors.forename: Joy M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Burchell
authors.forename: Lucio Achille
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Gaspari
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ercoli
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Aurelia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rughetti
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000473:pathology* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D017115:Catheter Ablation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008110:Liver Extracts; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D008297:Male; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D008110:Liver Extracts