OBJECTIVESTo study the changes of cellular immunity function in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and its correlation with disease severity.

METHODST lymphocyte subsets and CD28 co-stimulation molecule in CD8+ T cells in 22 HCC patients were detected using three-color flow cytometry. Serum interleukin-2 (IL-2), transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFbeta1), and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were determined by ELISA and radioimmunoassay. A group of 30 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), liver cirrhosis (LC), or normal adults (NC) served as controls.

RESULTSCompared with NC, the number of CD8+CD28- T cells increased and CD8+CD28+ T cells decreased in patients with HCC. The number of CD4+ T cells, CD4+/CD8+ ratios, IL-2 level all decreased and CD8+ T cells, IL-6, TGFbeta1 levels all increased in patients with HCC, LC and CHB. The CD4+ T cells, CD4+/CD8+ ratios and IL-2 level in patients with HCC were lower than those with CHB. Serum IL-6 and TGFbeta1 in patients with HCC were higher than those with LC and CHB. The levels of IL-6 and TGFbeta1 correlated with the stages of the tumors.

CONCLUSIONSHCC patients have a cellular immunity dysfunction. Rectifying the imbalanced function could be a potential way for treating HCC. Measurement of these factors would be useful for early diagnosis and evaluating the prognoses of these patients.