Clinical Significance of Regulatory T Cells in Regional Lymph Node Lymphocytes of Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer and overcoming immune-escape mechanism

调节性T细胞（Tregs）是一种有效的免疫抑制细胞，在肿瘤免疫逃逸中起着至关重要的作用。本研究的目的是评估非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）手术切除患者区域淋巴结淋巴细胞（RLNL）中CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ Tregs的预后意义。流式细胞术和定量RT-PCR检测RLNL中Tregs的比例。Tregs比例低的患者5年生存率明显高于Tregs比例高的患者。在非小细胞肺癌中，RLNL中较高比例的treg是一个重要的不利预后因素。RLNL中Tregs的比例信息对于克服肿瘤免疫逃逸，开发有效的辅助免疫治疗具有重要意义

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are potent immunosuppressive cells that play a crucial role in tumor immune escape. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the prognostic significance of CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ Tregs in the regional lymph node lymphocytes (RLNL) in patients who underwent surgical resection of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The proportions of Tregs in the RLNL were determined by flow cytometry and quantitative RT–PCR. The 5-year survival rate was significantly better in patients with the lower proportion of Tregs than that in the higher patients. The higher proportion of Tregs in the RLNL was a significant unfavorable prognostic factor in NSCLC. The information about the proportion of Tregs in the RLNL is considered to be important to overcome the tumor immune escape for development of the effective adjuvant immunotherapy