Frontiers in Immunology (May 2022)

Effector Memory T Cells and CD45RO+ Regulatory T Cells in Metastatic vs. Non-Metastatic Lymph Nodes in Lung Cancer Patients

  • Iwona Kwiecień,
  • Elżbieta Rutkowska,
  • Rafał Sokołowski,
  • Joanna Bednarek,
  • Agata Raniszewska,
  • Karina Jahnz-Różyk,
  • Piotr Rzepecki,
  • Joanna Domagała-Kulawik

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2022.864497
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13

Abstract

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Lymphocytes play a leading role in regulation of the immune system in lung cancer patients. The recognition of T cells profile may help in prediction of effectiveness of anticancer immunotherapy. The aim of the study was to determine the dominant subpopulation of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes in metastatic and non-metastatic lymph nodes (LNs) of lung cancer patients. LNs aspirates were obtained during EBUS/TBNA procedure and cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. We showed a higher percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ effector memory T cells in the metastatic than in the non-metastatic LNs (28.6 vs. 15.3% and 28.6 vs. 14.0%, p< 0.05). The proportion of CD45RO+ T regulatory cells (CD45RO+ Tregs) was higher in the metastatic LNs than in the non-metastatic ones (65.6 vs. 31%, p< 0.05). We reported the significant differences in T cell subsets depending on the lung cancer metastatic process. We observed that the effector memory T cells were predominant subpopulations in metastatic LNs. Lymphocyte profile in LNs is easy to evaluate by flow cytometry of EBUS/TBNA samples and may reflect the immune status in lung cancer.

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