Decline of T cell-related immune functions in cancer patients and an attempt to restore them through infusion of activated autologous T cells.
We developed a scoring system that can combine several immunological parameters and express the immune status of individuals as a simple numeral. T cell immune score was obtained by using 5T cell-related parameters: number of T cells, ratio of CD4(+)T cells to CD8(+)T cells, number of naïve T cells, ratio of naïve T cells to memory T cells, and T cell proliferative index (TCPI). TCPI was calculated by using number of T cells and their proliferative activity. We assessed T cell immune score in 103 patients with colorectal cancer and 51 healthy age-matched controls. The results were as follows: (1) T cell-immune score of patients in stages I-IV before surgery was significantly decreased as compared with controls. (2) The number of regulatory T cells in patients in stages I-IV gradually increased with disease progression. (3) T cell immune score was strongly suppressed after surgery, but were recovered to the initial level within a month. (4) Furthermore, restoration of immunological function was attempted in cancer patients by infusion of activated autologous T cells. The effectiveness was confirmed by an increase of TCPI in many cancer patients.
Hirokawa
Katsuiku
K
Institute for Health & Life Science, Tokyo, Japan. hirokawa.pth2@tmd.ac.jp
Utsuyama
Masanori
M
Ishikawa
Toshiaki
T
Kikuchi
Yuko
Y
Kitagawa
Masanobu
M
Fujii
Yuzo
Y
Nariuchi
Hideo
H
Uetake
Hiroyuki
H
Sugihara
Kenichi
K
D019264:Adoptive Transfer / Q000379:methods*; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000276:immunology*; D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio; D002455:Cell Division / Q000276:immunology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory / Q000276:immunology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology*