title: Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of regulatory T cells in patients with non-small cell lung cancer: A systematic review with meta-analysis.
abstract: The prognostic and clinicopathological value of regulatory T cells (Tregs) infiltration in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains undetermined. A comprehensive literature search of electronic databases (up to December 2015) was conducted. Relationship between Tregs infiltration and clinicopathological features, recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) was investigated by synthesizing the qualified data. A total of 1303 NSCLC patients from 11 studies were included. The pooled hazard ratio (HR) for survival showed that high Tregs infiltration had no effect on RFS (HR = 2.03, 95% CI: 0.61-3.44, P = 0.708) and OS (HR = 1.20, 95% CI: 0.58-1.62, P = 0.981). High FoxP3+ Tregs infiltration was significantly associated with poor OS in NSCLC (HR = 3.88, 95% CI: 2.45-5.40, P = 0.000). Test methods, ethnicity and types of specimens had no effect on predicting prognosis of Tregs infiltration. While high Tregs infiltration was significantly correlated with smoking status [odds ratios (ORs) = 1.54, 95% CI: 1.15-2.08; P = 0.004], none of other clinicopathological characteristics such as gender, histological type, lymph node metastasis status, tumor size, vascular invasion, lymphatic invasion and pleural invasion were associated with Tregs infiltration. The present study demonstrated that high FoxP3+ Tregs infiltration was significantly associated with poor prognosis in NSCLC and smoking status.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Tongji University Medical School Cancer Institute, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Sha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Tongji University Medical School Cancer Institute, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Tongji University Medical School Cancer Institute, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Limin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Tongji University Medical School Cancer Institute, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Tongji University Medical School Cancer Institute, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xiaozhen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Tongji University Medical School Cancer Institute, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yijun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Shanghai Pulmonary Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Tongji University Medical School Cancer Institute, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Caicun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C418974:FOXP3 protein, human; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors
keywords: Foxp3+; non-small cell lung cancer; prognosis; regulatory T cells; systematic review