title: Natural killer activity of peripheral-blood mononuclear cells in breast cancer patients.
abstract: Natural killer (NK) activity of immune cells plays a central role in host defense against cancer and virus-infected cells. Natural cytotoxic activity of peripheral-blood mononuclear cells was assessed by a Calcein-AM release assay in 89 subjects. In the present study, we here demonstrated that NK activities of peripheral-blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from breast cancer patients were significantly lower as compared with that of healthy individuals. There were significant differences in the NK activities of PBMCs from HER2-negative breast cancer patients as compared with HER2-positive patients. Our results suggest that NK activity of PBMCs is lower in breast cancer indicating a role for immunological natural host defense mechanisms against cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Virology, Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Md Zahidunnabi
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Dewan
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takada
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Terunuma
authors.forename: Xuewen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Sunjida
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Toi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020014:K562 Cells; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology*; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000276:immunology*; D008875:Middle Aged