Correlation of the lymphocytary immunophenotype in blood, ascites and tumoral tissue in patients with ovarian cancer

Abstract

Introduction: Ovarian cancer with epithelial origin is the most lethal of all gynecological cancers. The lymphocytary infiltrate in the tumor, the ascites and the blood are associated with the survival and the therapeutic response.
Objective: Assess the correlation of the lymphocytary composition between blood, ascites and tissue of the tumor in patients with ovarian cancer of epithelial origin.
Methods: It was conducted an analytical cross-sectional study in the National Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology (INOR, by its acronym in Spanish), in Havana, Cuba during 2017. 33 samples of blood, ascites and ovaric tumoral tissue were studied through a panel of multiparameters flow cytometry, and in addition were studied blood samples of 35 supposedly healthy women. It was assesed the composition and correlation among lymphocytary immunophenotypes
Results: There were found changes in the lymphocytary immunophenotype in the blood of patients in comparison with the controls. The concentration of NK cells was found significantly high, with 12,5% and 15,8% in controls and patients, respectively. The variance analysis showed that the variability of the lymphocytes concentrations between blood, ascites and ovaric tissue was not by chance. The population of ciytotoxic lymphocytes, T regulators, NKT and activated cells described an increasing trend in the blood, the ascites and the tissue; while the NK, the B lymphocytes and the helper cells showed an opposite trend. The activated immunophenotypes of T regulators and the cytotoxic lymphocytes had an inverse correlation in ascites and tumoral tissue with R2: 0,70 and 0,45, respectively.
Conclusions: It was evidenced the increase of cells with cytotoxic function and T regulators in the tissue and the ascites with T regulators lymphocytes. The correlation found in some homologous immunophenotypes among sections suggests that can be estimated cells concentrations from the blood. The relation among functional phenotypes showed a supressor environment, independently from the global concentrations of CD8 and T regulators.