Changes in the Peripheral Treg Cell Proportion and Immune Function in
Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients After Transarterial Chemoembolization
with Gelatin Sponge Microparticles
Abstract
Objective: Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) stands for an ideal
therapy for patients with intermediate stage HCC. This study was carried
out to observe the effect of gelatin sponge microparticles-transarterial
chemoembolization (GSMs-TACE) on the immune function of patients with
liver cancer by detecting the proportion of Treg cells in the peripheral
blood of HCC patients before and after the treatment of GSMs-TACE, and
to determine whether GSMs-TACE has a positive regulatory effect on the
immune function of patients with liver cancer. Methods: 28 HCC patients
treated with GSMs-TACE were enrolled. Flow cytometry was used to
determine the Treg cell proportion in peripheral blood in all patients
with HCC 1 day before GSMs-TACE, 10 days and 30 days after GSMs-TACE,
respectively. Results: The Tregs cell proportion in peripheral blood of
primary HCC patients was significantly higher than that of the healthy
controls and was associated with various clinical indicators of HCC. The
Treg cell proportion in the peripheral blood of patients with BCLC stage
C liver cancer was higher than that of stage B patients; The Treg cell
proportion at 10 days postoperatively was 8.85 ± 1.23%, which was
significantly lower than that before the GSMs-TACE. The Treg cell
proportion at 30 days postoperatively was 10.27 ± 1.28%, which remained
in the low range. Conclusion: These results indicated that GSMs-TACE
could exert a positive regulatory effect on the anticancer immune
function of HCC patients, which may be used in combination with immune
adjuvant therapies to enhance the treatment efficacy of HCC.