[Immune reconstitution in advanced ovarian cancer patients undergoing first line chemotherapy].

AIM: We investigated the numbers and proportions of lymphocyte subsets in advanced ovarian cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, so as to identify whether there is immune reconstitution after chemotherapy, and seek rational chemo-immunotherapy strategies in ovarian cancer treatment. METHODS: Blood samples from each ovarian cancer patient were obtained before (S(0)) and at day 5-7 (S(1)), day 12-14 (S(2)) and day 25-28 (S(3)) after chemotherapy in 13 patients. Flow cytometry technique was employed to analyse the numbers, proportions of CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+), CD4(+) CD25(+) Treg and memory-like phenotype lymphocyte subsets. RESULTS: Lymphopenia was observed at S1 after chemotherapy, but lymphocytes were found gradually recovered after S1. The numbers of CD3(+), CD4(+), CD8(+) T cells and CD4(+) CD25(+) Treg cells reduced to the lowest on S(1). The proportions of CD8(+) T cells and CD4(+) CD25(+) Treg cells reduced to the lowest on S(1) and S(2) respectively. The proportions of CD45RO(+) memory T cells increased significantly on S(2) while the proportion of CD8(+) CD45RA(+) T cells decreased remarkably on S(2). CONCLUSION: Paclitaxel and carboplatin induce lymphopenia at day 5-7 after chemotherapy, then comes the temporary immune reconstitution. It probably turns out that the "window period" during immune reconstitution offers a best opportunity for cancer immunotherapy.