Similar usage of T-cell receptor β-chain between tumor and adjacent normal tissue in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: In this study, we comprehensively profiled the T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire of the tumor and adjacent normal tissue in patients with HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and determined the baseline characteristics and clinical significance of TCR.

Methods: High-throughput sequencing was used to determine the profile of complementarity-determining region 3 (CDR3) of the TCR-β chain variable (TRBV) in the tumor and normal tissue samples of 14 HCC patients. At the same time, TRBV diversity and differences in expression between tumor and normal tissues were investigated.