A Preliminary Study:Expression Of IL-17-producing CD4~+T Cells And IL-17-producing CD8~+T Cells Of Lung Cancer Patients

Objective:To reveal the possible role of IL-17+CD4+T (Th17) cells and IL-17+CD8+T cells (Tc17) in the tumor immunity of lung cancer and the clinical significance of inspecting their levels, the research dectected the proportion of them in peripheral blood momonuclear cells(PBMCs) from lung cancer patients, analyzed the correlation of Th17cells and Tc17cells, the relationship of their expression and clinical biochemistry characteristics.Methods:The proportions of Th17cells and Tc17cells in CD3+T lymphocytes of60lung cancer patients were evaluated by Flow Cytometry Analysis(FCM) through intracelluar cytokine analysis, and the control group were composed of40healthy volunteers. The datas were sorted out and analyzed by using the software SPSS13.0.Results:1. The frequency of Th17cells (1.795±0.623)%in PBMCs from patients with lung cancer was significantly higher than controls (1.405±0.256)%,(t=28.944, P<0.001). Compared with the healthy group (0.640±0.204)%, the frequency of Tc17cells (0.865±0.357)%in CD3+T lymphocytes was significantly elevated in lung cancer group,(t=14.051, P<0.001)2. There was a positive linear correlation between the proportions of Th17cells and Tcl7cells of PBMCs in lung cancer group (r=0.770, P<0.05), meanwhile they have the same connections in the control group (r=0.532, P<0.05).3. There were no significant differences in the proportions of Th17cells in PBMCs of patients with different types of pathology (F=1.562, P=0.219).The proportion of Th17cells from squamous carcinoma patients was (1.589±0.720)%, while adenocarcinoma patients was(1.844±0.584)%and small cell lung cancer patients was (1.941±0.540)%. The expression of Tc27in squamous carcinoma patients (0.878±0.396)%、adenocarcinoma patients(0.824±0.367)%and small cell lung cancer patients (0.912±0.312)%also had no differences in statistics (F=0.314, P=0.732).The expression of Th17cells and Tc17cells of PBMCs in lung cancer group were uncorrelated with sex、age and somking status (P>0.05).4. The percentage of Th17cells was closely associated with pathological classification (F=4.882, P=0.011), as the proportion in stage Ⅰ～ⅢA (1.494±0.699)%、stage ⅢB (1.725±0.474)%and stage Ⅳ (2.046±0.560)%. Among them, the percentage of Thl7cells from lung cancer patients in stage IV was significantly higher than those in stage Ⅰ-ⅢA (P<0.05). The expression of Tc17cells in different TNM stages were as follows:stage Ⅰ～ⅢA (0.683±0.391)%、stage ⅢB (0.931±0.289)%、stage Ⅳ (0.959±0.336)%, and there were significant differences among them (F=3.633, P=0.033). Futhermore, the expression of Tc17cells in stage ⅢB and stage IV were remarkably elevated compared with those in stage Ⅰ～ⅢA (P<0.05).Conclusion:1. The overexpressed Th17cells and Tc17cells were closely associated with pathological classification in lung cancer patients, so they may be important immune factors involved in the occurrence and development of lung cancer.2. The positive correlation between the expression of Th17and Tc17cells revealed that they may play synergistic effects in tumor immunity of lung cancer.3. Thl7and Tc17cells could be used as new indicators investigating immunologic function of lung cancer and provide a reference in the monitoring of the disease.