Changes and significance of CD4~+ CD25~+ T cells in patients with lung cancer

Objective To investigate the changes and significance of CD4+ CD25+ T cells(regulatory T cells) in the peripheral blood of patients with lung cancer.Methods Sixty patients with lung cancer were enrolled as the study group,twenty patients with benign pulmonary diseases and twenty healthy volunteers were as control groups.Flow cytometry was used to detect the percentage of CD4+ CD25+ T lymphocytes present in total CD4+ T cells in the peripheral blood,and ECLIA was used to detect the levels of CEA,CYFRA21-1 and NSE in serum of all subjects.Results The percentages of CD4+ CD25+ T cells in the peripheral blood of patients with lung cancer(20.93%±4.47%) was significantly higher than that in benign pulmonary diseases group(15.14%±4.79%) and healthy control group(15.42%±3.44%)(P0.01).The level of CD4+ CD25+ T cells was not related to the pathological types or clinical staging.The patients with lower level of CD4+ CD25+ T cells had a better prognosis.The diagnostic value as a tumor marker of the percentage of CD4+ CD25+ T cells in the peripheral blood was similar to CEA and CYFRA21-1.Conclusion There is an increased proportion of regulatory T cells in patients with lung cancer,and manipulation of this subpopulation could be an important component of cancer immunotherapy.