[Detection of lymphocyte subsets in the peripheral blood of patients with malignant ovarian tumors].

Objective: To investigate the relationships and implications between the various immune cell subsets in the peripheral blood of patients with ovarian cancer and the clinicopathological parameters.

Methods: Flow cytometry (FCM) was used to test the regulatory T cells (Tregs), helper T cells (Th1 cells), dendritic cells (DCs), natural killer (NK) cells and other immune cell subsets in the pre-operative peripheral blood and ascites of 24 patients with malignant ovarian tumors. Then, the results were compared with those in the peripheral blood of 20 healthy women, and their relationships with the clinicopathological parameters were analyzed statistically.

Results: Compared with the control group, there were an elevated level of Tregs, significantly reduced levels of Th1 cells and activated receptor NKG2D on CD8⁺ T cells (P<0.05) in the peripheral blood of the 24 patients with ovarian cancer, which were correlated with pathological staging (P<0.05). The total DCs were not significantly different between healthy controls and ovarian cancer patients, but mature DCs (mDCs) were reduced and plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) increased in the peripheral blood of the patients with ovarian cancer. The degree of the decreased mDCs was related to clinical stage, and the degree of the increased pDCs was correlated with pathological grade (P<0.05). Besides, compared with peripheral blood, the levels of CD16 on NK cells and NKG2D receptor on CD8⁺ T cells dropped in ascites.

Conclusion: The anti-tumor immune function declined in patients with malignant ovarian tumors, and the immune functions of the tumor-killing effect T cells and NK cells in the peripheral blood and ascites of the patients were both significantly inhibited, meanwhile, the antigen presentation of DCs was descended.