DIFFERENTIATION- AND ACTIVATION-ASSOCIATED MARKERS OF PERIPHERAL BLOOD LYMPHOCYTES IN THE PATIENTS WITH OVARIAN CANCER IN THE COURSE OF TUMOR PROGRESSION

Abstract

Expression features of markers associated with differentiation (CD3, CD4, CD8, CD16) and activation (CD25, CD71, CD95 and HLA-DR) were studied on lymphocytes from patients of reproductive and postmenopausal age with ovarian cancer (FIGO clinical stages I to IV). Absolute lymphopenia, which was more pronounced in postmenopause, was found to be increased in the course of tumor progression. Moreover, the numbers of CD8+ cells significantly increased since early stages of disease, along with decreased amounts of CD3+ andCD4+ cells. CD16 expression was elevated at later stages, being sufficiently higher in postmenopausal patients. CD25 cell scores was increased at all clinical stages, and did not significantly differ in reproductive vs menopausal age. CD95+ cell number was increased, and it proved to be maximal at stage III-IV of the disease. The numbers of CD71+ cells was increased at all clinical stages of disease, being significantly higher in reproductive period, as compared with menopause. Expression of HLA-DR molecules on lymphocytes was enhanced at early stages of disease followed by significant decrease at stage IV of disease. Hence, phenotypic features of lymphocytes from the patients with ovarian cancer exhibit dynamic variability at different stages of tumor growth, being also dependent on reproductive vs. postmenopausal period.

Keywords

• ovarian cancer
• biomarkers
• lymphocytes
• tumor progression