Detection and significance of CD4~+ CD25~+ regulatory T cell of esophageal cancer patients

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the function of CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells of local and general immunity in the peripheral blood and resection tissue of esophageal cancer patients.METHODS: The proportion of CD4+ CD25+regulatory T cells in the peripheral blood and resection tissue of esophagus cancer patients were evaluated with the flow cytometry,and the relationship between the proportion of CD4+ CD25+regulatory T cells and clinical pathological information was detected.RESULTS: The proportion of CD4+ CD25+regulatory T cells of resected esophagus cancer tissue was(18.97±2.38)% and the proportion of CD4+ CD25+regulatory T cells in the peripheral blood was(17.57±3.99)%,there was no statistical significant difference between them(t=1.511,P0.05);but they were both higher than that of healthy controls(9.35±1.41)%,with statistical significance(t=12.111,P0.01;t=8.332,P0.01).The proportion of CD4+ CD25+regulatory T cells was correlated significantly with stages of TNM(F=9.384,P0.05) and lymph node metastasis(t=2.326,P0.05).CONCLUSIONS:There are dysimmunity existing in esophageal cancer patients.The finding suggests that CD4+ CD25+regulatory T cells may be involved in the occurrence and development of esophageal cancer.