title: Intratumoral FOXP3+VEGFR2+ regulatory T cells are predictive markers for recurrence and survival in patients with colorectal cancer.
abstract: Previously, we have shown that CD8(+)T/FOXP3(+) cell ratio but not FOXP3(+) cell number alone is an independent prognostic factor for colorectal cancer. In the present study, we evaluated whether the number of intratumoral FOXP3(+)VEGFR2(+) (itFOXP3(+)VEGFR2(+)) T cells alone could be a predictive factor for survival prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer. Distribution of regulatory T cells (Tregs) at tumor sites derived from 88 patients with primary colorectal cancer was fluorescence-immunohistochemically examined. Relatively low number of itFOXP3(+)VEGFR2(+) cells significantly correlated with better [corrected] disease-free survival (DS) and overall survival (OS); multivariate analysis indicated that number of itFOXP3(+)VEGFR2(+) cells is an independent predictive and prognostic factor of DS and OS while neither intratumoral FOXP3(+) cell number nor intratumoral FOXP3(+)VEGFR2(-) cell number alone showed significant correlation with DS or OS. These results suggest that FOXP3(+)VEGFR2(+) may be a better predictive Treg marker than FOXP3(+) alone for recurrence and survival in patients with colorectal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cancer Therapy and Research, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Hideya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Onishi
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Morisaki
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Mitsuo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Katano
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000378:metabolism*; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C418974:FOXP3 protein, human; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2