J Korean Surg Soc.  1998 Dec;55(Suppl):997-1003.

Clinical Significance of Lymphocyte Subpopulations in Peripheral Blood from Gastric Cancer Patients

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Surgery, 1Clinical Pathology, College of Medicine, Catholic University of Taegu-Hyosung, Taegu, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND : There are plenty of documented observations of gastric cancer patients having suppressed cellular immunity, and this immunity may be correlated to recurrence. We studied the changes in the peripheral T-lymphocyte subpopulations in gastric cancer patients and their predictive roles for recurrence.
METHODS
: Lymphocyte subpopulations in peripheral blood from thirty-eight gastric cancer patients who were operated on at Taegu Catholic Medical Center from September 1995 to February 1997 were measured by 3-color direct immunofluorescence analysis with a Coulter S-plus IV automatic counter.
RESULTS
: CD4 significantly increased with tumor size and depth of invasion although other immune parameters, such as CD8, CD19, the CD4/CD8 ratio, and total lymphocyte count did not changed. In the patients with lymph-node metastasis, increases in CD3 and CD4 and a decrease in CD19 were observed. CD19 and the B lymphocyte count also decreased in advanced gastric cancer patients. However, T-lymphocytes subpopulations did not significantly change with stage. There were significant decreases in CD8 and in the T- & B-lymphocyte counts, without changes in CD4 and the CD4/CD8 ratio in the postoperative immune parameters.The preoperative values of the T- & B-lymphocyte counts and CD8 and CD19 were lower in patients who had recurrences during six months to two years of follow up, compared to recurrence-free patients.
CONCLUSIONS
: On the basis of these results, we found changes of T-lymphocyte subpopulations with size, depth of invasion, and regional lymph node metastasis, but not with stage. Postoperatively, there were significant decreases in the T- & B-lymphocyte counts. Suppressed immunity correlated with recurrence, and preoperative evaluation of peripheral T-cell subpopulations may be helpful for predict recurrence and for postoperative prognosis.

Keyword

Gastric cancer; Lymphocyte subpopulations

MeSH Terms

B-Lymphocytes
Daegu
Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Direct
Follow-Up Studies
Humans
Immunity, Cellular
Lymph Nodes
Lymphocyte Count
Lymphocyte Subsets*
Lymphocytes*
Neoplasm Metastasis
Prognosis
Recurrence
Stomach Neoplasms*
T-Lymphocytes
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