title: Circulating and tumor-infiltrating Foxp3⁺ regulatory T cell subset in Chinese patients with extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma.
abstract: Foxp3⁺ regulatory T lymphocytes (Tregs) usually act as an immune suppressor and correlate with poorer survival in malignancies. This study aims to investigate the distribution and characterization of Foxp3(+) subset in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and tumor tissues from extranodal NK/T cell lymphoma (ENKTL). Our study showed the percentage of Foxp3⁺ subset from PBMC was significantly higher than that of healthy individuals (P<0.001). The Foxp3⁺ subset from PBMCs expressed CD45RO, CTLA4, GITR, CCR7, and had an IL-10(high)IFNγ⁺TGFβ⁺IL-2(low)IL-17(low) cytokine secreting phenotype. Interestingly, the existence of EBV antigen-specific CD8⁺Foxp3⁺ Tregs was discovered in ENKTL. Furthermore, the high density of Foxp3⁺ TILs was associated with improved progression-free survival (PFS) in ENKTL patients (P<0.05). Collectively, our study implicates that EBV antigens could induce antigen-specific CD8⁺Foxp3⁺ Tregs in ENKTL, and Foxp3⁺ TILs is an independent factor for PFS in ENKTL.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou 510060, China.
authors.forename: Rou-Jun
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Zhou-Feng
authors.initials: ZF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yi-Lan
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhong-Yu
authors.initials: ZY
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Wen-Qi
authors.initials: WQ
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Yi-Xin
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D016827:CD8 Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D002681:China; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000378:metabolism; D054391:Lymphoma, Extranodal NK-T-Cell / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015704:CD4 Antigens; D016827:CD8 Antigens; C418974:FOXP3 protein, human; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors