Effects of thermotherapy on Th1/Th2 cells and plasma VEGF in non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with chemotherapy / 中国医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect of hyperthermia combined with chemotherapy on the changes of immunity balance of Th1/Th2 and cytokines such as interleukin-2 (IL-2),interferon-γ (IFN-γ),IL-4,IL-10,and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.Methods Fifty patients with advanced NSCLC were randomly divided into thermochemotherapy group (n =25,received whole body hyperthermia combined TP chemotherapy),and chemotherapy group (n =25,received TP chemotherapy alone).The immunity balance of Th1/Th2,IL-2,IFN-γ,IL-4,IL-10,and VEGF levels before therapy and 1 week after therapy were observed.At the same time,the above observation indices were also detected as normal control in 20 healthy volunteers.Results Compared to the chemotherapy group,the proportion of Th1 cells from thermochemotherapy group was significantly increased after therapy (P =0.002) and that of Th2 cells was dropped markedly (P =0.006).There was no difference in the levels of IL-2,IFN~,IL4,IL-10,and VEGF between thermochemotherapy and chemotherapy groups before therapy (P ＞ 0.05).However,the expressions of ILA,IL-10,and VEGF in the NSCLC group were significantly higher than normal group (P ＜ 0.01).The IL-2 and IFN-γ levels were significantly decreased in NSCLC group (P ＜0.01).After therapy 1 week,the concentration of IL-2 and IFN-γfrom thermochemotherapy and chemotherapy groups were higher than before,with statistical significance (P ＜0.01).In addition,IL-4 and IL-10 levels of two groups were significantly decreased in comparison with before therapy (P ＜ 0.01),and it showed a striking difference in cytokines (IL-2,IFN-γ,IL-4,and IL-10) between two groups (P ＜ 0.05).However,the concentration of VEGF in chemotherapy group patients before and after chemotherapy had no significant difference (P ＞ 0.05).The concentration of VEGF from thermochemotherapy group patients after therapy were lower than chemotherapy group patients,the difference had statistical significance (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions Thermochemotherapy can significantly prompt the Th2 to Th1 shift in both cells and cytokines of advanced NSCLC compared to chemotherapy alone.Moreover,thermochemotherapy also reduces the expression of VEGF,which may prevent the formation of new blood vessels in tumor tissue.