Effect of dendritic cell immunotherapy on distribution of dendritic cell subsets in non-small cell lung cancer

The effect of dendritic cell (DC) immunotherapy on non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and its influence on the distribution of DC subsets were studied. Peripheral blood was drawn from 55 patients, and DCs were cultured in vitro and injected into the patients three times. The changes in DC subsets in NSCLC patients before treatment and after three treatments were observed using a flow cytometer, and the difference in DC subsets between patients and healthy controls was compared. DC subsets in lung cancer tissues, para-carcinoma tissues and normal tissues were analyzed by indirect immunofluorescence and laser scanning confocal microscope (LSCM). The BDCA-1⁺ DC1 and BDCA-3⁺ DC2 in lung cancer tissues were significantly increased compared with those in para-carcinoma tissues and normal tissues (P<0.05). The number of DC1 and DC2 in para-carcinoma tissues were increased compared with those in normal tissues (P<0.05). The ratio of DC1 in peripheral blood in the normal control group was obviously higher than that in NSCLC patients (P<0.01). There were significant differences in DC1 and DC1/DC2 ratio in NSCLC patients with different tumor staging, and there were also obvious differences in patients with a different Karnofsky performance status (KPS) score. Moreover, compared with those before treatment, DC1 and DC1/DC2 ratio were significantly increased after three treatments, and there was a significant difference in the comparison of DC1/DC2 ratio between the NSCLC patients with survival time greater than and less than one year. The immune function of NSCLC patients was improved after DC immunotherapy. The survival time of NSCLC patients was closely associated with the DC1/DC2 ratio in peripheral blood. The detection of DC subsets in peripheral blood can help clinicians understand the immune function of NSCLC patients and provide a basis for the clinical judgment of prognosis of NSCLC patients.