γδ T cells are increased in the peripheral blood of patients with gastric cancer.
BACKGROUND
γδ T cells are implicated in immunoregulation. However, little is known about the characteristics of γδ T cells in gastric cancer. In this study, we assessed the incidence of γδ T cells and lymphocyte subsets in the peripheral blood of gastric cancer patients.


METHODS
We enrolled 48 patients and 49 healthy controls. The γδ T cells, lymphocyte subsets were analyzed with flow cytometry.


RESULTS
The mean percentage of γδ T cells in patients with gastric cancer was 5.0±3.4% and for controls 2.3±1.6%. Twenty (41.7%) of the 48 patients with gastric cancer had a high percentage (more than 5%) of peripheral blood γδ T cells, while 4 (8.2%) of the 49 controls did. The percentage of CD3⁺ T cells were elevated in gastric cancer compared to controls (P=0.007). The CD4/CD8 ratio increased in gastric cancer (P=0.311). The percentage of CD3⁺CD4⁻CD8⁻ T cells increased in gastric cancer compared to controls (P=0.004).


CONCLUSIONS
The proportion of γδ T cells in the peripheral blood of gastric cancer patients was significantly higher in comparison to that in the healthy controls. Our findings suggest that increased proportion of peripheral γδ T cells may explain anti-tumor immunity against gastric cancer partly.
Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Daegu, School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
A-Jin
AJ
Lee
Sang-Gyung
SG
Kim
Hyun-Dong
HD
Chae
Geon Ho
GH
Lee
Im-Hee
IH
Shin
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers; D016516:CD4-CD8 Ratio; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta / Q000276:immunology*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery
D015415:Biomarkers; D016692:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, gamma-delta