Clinical Significance of the Expression of Tim-3 and Galectin-9 and Tumor T Cell Immunity in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma
10.11969/j.issn.1673-548X.2025.02.029
- VernacularTitle:Tim-3及Galectin-9的表达与肿瘤T细胞免疫在鼻咽癌中的临床意义
- Author:
Geng SU
1
;
Qijun WANG
;
Angru ZOU
Author Information
1. 530001 南宁,广西壮族自治区民族医院病理科
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Tim-3;
Galectin-9;
Tumor immunity;
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma
- From:
Journal of Medical Research
2025;54(2):182-187
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To investigate the expression of T cell immunoglobulin mucin molecule(Tim-3)and Galectin-9 and their clinical significance in tumor T cell immunity in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.Methods The expression of Tim-3 in various tumor tissues in the TCGA database was searched,and Tim-3 and its ligand Galectin-9,which were closely related to the immune system of nasopha-ryngeal carcinoma patients were selected as the research genes;the data on the changes in peripheral blood T cell subsets detected by im-mune cell pathology chip technology before and after radiotherapy from 65 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients with tumor tissues,65 naso-pharyngeal inflammatory specimens during the same period,and corresponding nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients admitted to Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Ethnic Hospital from March 2018 to March 2022 were collected,and follow-up observation were conducted.Results Bioinformatics analysis of sequencing data from nasopharyngeal carcinoma in the TCGA database showed that Tim-3 was highly expressed in most tumor tissues and significantly upregulated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues compared to normal adjacent tissues.The expression of Tim-3 and its ligand Galectin-9 was positively correlated in cancer tissues;Immunohistochemical results showed that the expression levels of Tim-3 and Galectin-9 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissue were significantly higher than that in nasopharyngeal inflammatory tissue(P＜0.05);the high expression of Tim-3 and Galectin-9 were closely related to lymph node involvement(P＜0.05)and later TNM stage(P＜0.05);the expression levels of Tim-3 and Galectin-9 were not related to factors such as age,gender,and EB virus infection(P＞0.05);the expression of Tim-3 and Galectin-9 was positively correlated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma(r=0.313,P=0.011);follow-up revealed that high expression of Tim-3 and Galectin-9 may be associated with poor prognosis in naso-pharyngeal carcinoma;the T lymphocyte subpopulation measurements of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients 3days before and 7days after radiotherapy showed a significant decrease in CD4+and CD4+/CD8+ratios compared to before radiotherapy(P＜0.05),there was no significant difference in the changes of CD3+and CD8+(P＞0.05).The radiotherapy sensitivity of Tim-3 and Galectin-9 protein posi-tive groups was significantly higher than that of Tim-3 and Galectin-9 negative groups(P＜0.05).Conclusion The Tim-3/Galectin-9 signaling pathway plays an important role in the occurrence,development,and metastasis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma,and T cell immuni-ty plays an important role in the treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma.The joint detection of changes in Tim-3,Galectin-9 and T cell subsets in nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissue may provide new parameters for clinical evaluation of tumor monitoring and tumor immunotherapy.
