The disease stage-associated imbalance of Th1/Th2 and Th17/Treg in uterine cervical cancer patients and their recovery with the reduction of tumor burden.

Background: Nearly all uterine cervical cancer (UCC) cases result from human papillomavirus (HPV) infection. After high-risk HPV infection, most HPV infections are naturally cleared by humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. Thus, cervical lesions of only few patients progress into cervical cancer via cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and lead to persistent oncogenic HPV infection.