The impact of preoperative immunonutrition and other nutrition models on tumor infiltrative lymphocytes in colorectal cancer patients.

Aim: The importance of the alteration of tumor infiltrative lymphocytes (CD4(+), CD8(+), CD16(+), and CD56(+)) in colorectal cancer prognosis is well known. In this study, we analyzed the effect of preoperative immunonutrition and different nutritional models on the clinical condition of colorectal cancer patients.

Methods: Twenty-eight colorectal cancer patients were grouped into 4 groups according to their nutrition regimens randomly and were given immunonutrition (IMN), standard enteral (SE), total parental nutrition (TPN), and normal nutrition (NN) regimens, all of which contained the same calorie-nitrogen content within a 7-day preoperative period. All patients had an endoscopic biopsy before and after the regimen, and the lymphocyte population infiltrating mucosal parts of the resected tumor tissue were evaluated. Immunohistochemical analysis of the tissue specimens was performed by staining with antihuman CD4(+), CD8(+), CD16(+), and CD56(+) antibodies.

Results: After nutrition, there were significant increases in each of the 4 groups of CD4(+) and CD8(+) cells within the tumor. Comparing the rates of augmentation, the increased rates of the CD8(+) cells infiltrating the tumor after nutrition in the patients who were fed with IMN were significantly more than the ones in other groups (P = .01). CD16(+) cell infiltration was significantly higher in all groups except the SE and IMN groups. The SE group had increased CD56(+) cell infiltration compared with the other groups.

Conclusions: In the colorectal cancer patients who had nutrition in the 7-day preoperative period, except for the SE nutrition group, there were significant increases of infiltration of CD56(+) cells at the mucosal part of the tumor tissue within the CD4(+) and CD8(+) cell population. When postnutrition values were compared, there was a marked increase of CD8(+) cells in the IMN group.