Effect of Argon-Helium Cryosurgery on Regulatory T Lymphocytes in the Peripheral Blood of Patients with Advanced Renal Carcinoma / 中国肿瘤临床

ABSTRACT

Objective: To analyze the effect of Argon-Helium cryosurgery (AHCS) on CD4+ CD25+ regulatory T cells (Treg) and its implication in patients with advanced renal carcinoma.Methods:,Peripheral venous blood samples were ob-tained from 32 patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma before and after AHCS.The proportions of Treg cells and T lym-phocyte subsets (CD3+ T, CD4+ T, CD8+ T, CD4+ T/CD8+ T, and NK cells) in the peripheral blood were measured by flow cytometry.Enhanced CT or enhanced MRI was used to observe the necrosis of tumor at 1 month after AHCS.The areas with no imaging enhancement in tumor were regarded as tumor necrosis.The necrosis rate was measured by Cavalieri method and the tumor burden was evaluated.Results: At 3 months after AHCS, the percentages of Treg cells were gradual-ly decreased from 4.18%±1.58% to 1.96%±0.54%, with a significant difference (P=0.001).At 3 months after AHCS, the pro-portions of CD3+ T, CD4+ T, NK and CD4+ T/CD8+ T were gradually increased from 19.26%±7.52%, 43.54%±12.99%, 1.15%±0.57%, and 17.49%±8.36% to 30.83%±5.69%, 49.58±10.76%, 1.84%±0.12%, and 27.63%±8.20%, with a statistical significance (P=0.000, P=0.003, P=0.02, and P=0.001).The proportion of CD8 + T was decreased from 40.86%±8.89% to the lowest ratio (26.74%±4.29%) at 3 months after AHCS, with a significant difference (P=0.000).At 3～6 months after cryo-therapy, there was only a slight change in the proportions of CD3 + T, CD4 + T, CD4 + T/CD8 + T, NK, CD8 + T, and Treg cells, with no significant difference (P>0.05).Correlation analysis showed that the decrease in tumor burden was positively correlated with the decrease of the proportion of Treg cells (r=0.793, P<0.01).Conclusion: After AHCS, the distribution of T-lymphocyte subsets can be improved and the anti-tumor immune response was strengthened.The percentage of Treg cells is correlated with tumor burden.