Elevated level of peripheral CD8^sup +^CD28^sup -^ T lymphocytes are an independent predictor of progression-free survival in patients with metastatic breast cancer during the course of chemotherapy

• Published in: Cancer immunology, immunotherapy immunotherapy, 2013-06, Vol.62 (6), p.1123
• Main Authors: Song, Guohong, Wang, Xiaoli, Jia, Jun, Yuan, Yanhua, Wan, Fengling, Zhou, Xinna, Yang, Huabing, Ren, Jun, Gu, Jiezhun, Lyerly, Herbert Kim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Breast cancer; Cancer therapies; Chemotherapy; Cytokines; Disease; Growth factors; Hepatitis; Hospitals; Immune system; Lymphocytes; Metastasis; Oncology; Patients
• ISSN: 0340-7004; 1432-0851
• DOI: 10.1007/s00262-013-1424-8

Suppression of cellular immunity resulting from tumorigenesis and/or therapy might promote cancer cells' growth, progression and invasion. Here, we explored whether T lymphocyte subtypes from peripheral blood of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) female patients could be used as alternative surrogate markers for cancer progress. Additionally, plasma levels of interleukin (IL)-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IFN-γ, and transforming growth factor-[beta]1 were quantitated from MBC and healthy volunteers. This study included 89 female MBC patients during the post-salvage chemotherapy follow-up and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers as control. The percentages of T lymphocyte subpopulations from peripheral blood and plasma levels of cytokines were measured. Both CD8^sup +^CD28^sup -^ and CD4^sup +^CD25^sup +^ were elevated in MBC patients compared to the control cohort (P < 0.05). In contrast, CD3^sup +^ and CD8^sup +^CD28^sup +^cells were significantly lower in MBC patients (P < 0.0001, P = 0.045, respectively). MBC patients had elevated levels of immunosuppressive cytokines IL-6 and IL-10. Patients with elevated CD8^sup +^CD28^sup -^ and CD4^sup +^CD25^sup +^ cells showed increased levels of IL-6, and only patients with elevated CD8^sup +^CD28^sup -^ had decreased interferon-γ. Univariate analysis indicated increased CD3^sup +^CD4^sup +^ or CD8^sup +^CD28^sup +^correlated with prolonged progression-free survival (PFS), while elevated CD8^sup +^CD28^sup -^associated with shorten PFS. The percent of CD8^sup +^CD28^sup -^ T lymphocytes is an independent predictor for PFS through multivariate analysis. This study suggests that progressive elevated levels of CD8^sup +^CD28^sup -^ suppressor T lymphocytes represent a novel independent predictor of PFS during post-chemotherapy follow-up.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]