T‐Cell Lymphopenia in Patients with Advanced Thyroid Carcinoma Is Associated with Poor Prognosis

• Published in: The oncologist (Dayton, Ohio) Vol. 24; no. 3; pp. e106 - e110
• Main Authors: Rabold, Katrin, Gielen, Paul R., Kers‐Rebel, Esther D., Netea, Mihai G., Smit, Jan W.A., Adema, Gosse J., Netea‐Maier, Romana T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.03.2019
• Subjects: Brief Communications
• ISSN: 1083-7159; 1549-490X
• DOI: 10.1634/theoncologist.2018-0422

Background Aggressive forms of thyroid carcinoma (TC) show an abundant infiltration of immune cells, and this correlates with prognosis. However, little is known about circulating immune cell levels in advanced TC. Objective Investigate T‐cell and myeloid‐derived suppressor cell (MDSC) levels in peripheral blood of patients with advanced TC and correlate them with survival. Methods T cells and MDSCs were quantified by flow cytometry in peripheral blood from nine patients with advanced TC and nine healthy volunteers. Results No significant differences in MDSC or regulatory T‐cell levels were detected between patients with TC and healthy controls. CD3, CD4, and CD8 T‐cell levels were significantly lower in patients with TC. CD3 and CD4 T‐cell levels further decreased in patients with survival of less than 1 month. Conclusion These data suggest that T‐cell lymphopenia in patients with TC indicates an aggressive tumor behavior and might influence therapeutic choices in the future. Restoring T‐cell levels may become a potential therapeutic option within the multitarget approaches. This article assesses the presence of immune cell populations in the peripheral blood of patients with advanced or metastatic thyroid carcinoma, focusing on correlation to patient prognosis.