BACKGROUNDTo investigate the distribution of TCR Vβ subfamily T clonal cells in peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) and lymphocytes in non-cancerous lung tissues of patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to see the inclination of the T cell antigen receptor (TCR) Vβ subfamilies' expression.

METHODSComplimentarily determining region 3 (CDR3) of TCR 24 variable region genes was analyzed in PBL, TIL and lymphocytes in non cancerous lung tissues from 24 NSCLC cases with reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and gene scan techniques to identify the distribution and clonality of TCR Vβ subfamily T cells.

RESULTSOnly a portion of Vβ T cells were found in patients with NSCLC, whereas 24 TCR Vβ subfamily T cells were detected in 10 healthy controls. Vβ5 subfamily was expressed mostly in TIL and the frequency of Vβ5 in TIL (6/18, 33.3%) was much higher than that of PBL (1/24, 4.2%) and T cells infiltrating non-cancerous lung tissues (0/12) (P < 0.05). Oligoc lonal T cells were found in 2 cases with Vβ5 subfamily and polyclonal T cells in 4 cases.

CONCLUSIONSThere are dominant and clonal TCR Vβ subfamilies expressed in TIL of NSCLC patients, which may be the tumor associated antigens (TAA) specific.