Clinical significance of detecting peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets in patients with pulmonary adenocarcinoma / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the clinical value of T lymphocyte subsets in prediction of chemotherapy responses of patients with pulmonary adenocarcinoma.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fifty-five chemotherapy-naive patients with pathologically or cytologically confirmed pulmonary adenocarcinoma were examined for peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets using flow cytometry, including CD3(+) T cells, CD3(+)CD4(+) T cells, CD3(+)CD8(+) T cells, CD45RO(+) T cells and CD45RA(+) T cells.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Patients who responded favorably to chemotherapy (CR(+)PR) showed a significantly lower percentage of CD45RA(+) T cells than those who failed to respond to chemotherapy (P=0.04). CD45RO(+) T cell percentage were slightly higher in the response group than in the non-response group, but this difference was not statistically significant (P=0.25). The other T cell subsets, namely CD3(+), CD3(+)CD4(+), and CD3(+)CD8(+) T cells showed no significant differences between the two groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A high percentage of peripheral blood CD45RA(+) T cells is associated with a poor short-term outcome of chemotherapy in patients with advanced pulmonary adenocarcinoma. Peripheral blood CD45RA(+) T cell level can be a reliable index for predicting chemotherapy efficacy in these patients.</p>