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Published on: June 1, 2019
[Preliminary study on lymphocyte subsets of sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer patients]
Shui Wang1, Ping Fan, Zheng-yan Wu
1Department of General Surgery, First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China.
Insights
In breast cancer patients, sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) show a reversed CD4(+) to CD8(+) T cell ratio when metastasis occurs. This immune cell shift in the SLN may indicate tumor invasion effects.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Oncology
- Flow Cytometry
Context:
- Sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) are critical for breast cancer staging.
- Assessing immune cell populations in SLN provides insights into tumor-host interactions.
Purpose:
- To investigate changes in lymphocyte subsets within the SLN of breast cancer patients.
- To determine if lymph node metastasis affects the composition of T cells (CD4+, CD8+), NK cells (CD16+), and B cells (CD19+).
Summary:
- Flow cytometry analysis of SLN in breast cancer patients revealed significant alterations in CD4+ and CD8+ T cell proportions upon lymph node metastasis.
- Specifically, CD8+ T cells became predominant over CD4+ T cells in metastatic SLN, unlike in non-metastatic cases where cell numbers were comparable to non-SLN.
- No significant differences were observed in CD3+ T cells, CD16+ NK cells, or CD19+ B cells between metastatic and non-metastatic SLN.
Impact:
- The study identifies a reversed CD4+ to CD8+ T cell ratio in metastatic SLN of breast cancer patients.
- This immune microenvironment shift suggests a potential role for tumor cell invasion in altering lymphocyte populations within the SLN.
Objective:
To study the lymphocyte subsets of sentinel lymph nodes (SLN) in breast cancer patients.
Methods:
Flow cytometry was used to analyze the markers on the surface of lymphocytes such as CD3, CD4, CD8, CD16 and CD19 in the sentinel lymph node of breast cancer.
Results:
When lymph node metastasis did not occur, there was no significant difference in the number of CD3(+) T, CD4(+) T, CD8(+) T, CD16 NK and CD19 B cells between SLN cells and non-SLN cells. With lymph node metastasis, the proportion of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells was significantly changed, CD8(+) T cells (66.15 +/- 5.97) were the predominant cells instead of CD4(+) T cells (69.07 +/- 5.02), whereas no significant difference in CD3(+) T, CD16 NK and CD19 B cells.
Conclusion:
The CD4(+) to CD8(+) T cell ratio in sentinel lymph nodes with metastasis is reversed in breast cancer patients. This might results from changes in microenvironment due to tumor cell invasion.
