title: Differential regulation and function of tumor-infiltrating T cells in different stages of breast cancer patients.
abstract: Breast cancer survival was associated with higher frequencies of CD8(+) T cytotoxic T cells in infiltrating lymphocytes. On the other hand, the frequency of CD4(+)CD25(+)FoxP3(+) regulatory T cells was inversely correlated with clinical outcomes of breast cancer. The regulation and interaction of different types of tumor-infiltrating T cells in different stages of breast cancer patients are still unclear. In this study, we examined the functions and regulations of CD8(+) T cells and CD4(+)CD25(+)FoxP3(+) T cells from resected tumors from 12 stage I, 24 stage II, and 20 stage III untreated breast cancer patients. We found that tumor-infiltrating CD8(+) T cells from stage III patients were more refractory to T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation than those from stage I and stage II patients in terms of interferon gamma (IFN-γ) production and proliferation. On the other hand, tumor-infiltrating CD4(+)CD25(+)FoxP3(+) T cells had higher proliferation in stage III tumors than in stage I and stage II tumors. In addition, we found that tumor-infiltrating CD4(+)CD25(+) T cells can suppress CD8(+) T cell inflammation ex vivo. Altogether, our data demonstrated that stage III tumors in breast cancer patients had a more immunosuppressive microenvironment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, 20 Yuhuangding East Road, Yantai, Shandong, 264000, China.
authors.forename: Shiguang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, 20 Yuhuangding East Road, Yantai, Shandong, 264000, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, 20 Yuhuangding East Road, Yantai, Shandong, 264000, China.
authors.forename: Guangdong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Center, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, Shandong, 264000, China.
authors.forename: Yanping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Breast Surgery, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, 20 Yuhuangding East Road, Yantai, Shandong, 264000, China. haidongzou_yt@126.com.
authors.forename: Haidong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D016246:Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors
keywords: Breast cancer; Stage; Tumor-infiltrating T cells