significance of Treg cells in defective tumor immunity

• Published in: Archivum Immunologiae et Therapiae Experimentalis Vol. 56; no. 3; pp. 181 - 191
• Main Authors: Kosmaczewska, Agata, Ciszak, Lidia, Potoczek, Stanisław, Frydecka, Irena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel Basel : Birkhäuser-Verlag 01.06.2008; Birkhäuser-Verlag; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animals; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes - immunology; CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes - metabolism; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes - immunology; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes - metabolism; Cell Proliferation; Cytokines - immunology; Cytokines - metabolism; Forkhead Transcription Factors - metabolism; FoxP3; Humans; Immune Tolerance; Immunology; immunosuppression; Ligands; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating - immunology; Lymphocytes, Tumor-Infiltrating - metabolism; Neoplasms - immunology; Neoplasms - metabolism; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Review; T cell receptors; T-Lymphocyte Subsets - immunology; T-Lymphocyte Subsets - metabolism; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory - immunology; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory - physiology; Treg cells; tumor immunity; Treg cells; immunosuppression; tumor immunity; FoxP3
• ISSN: 0004-069X; 1661-4917
• DOI: 10.1007/s00005-008-0018-1

Regulatory T cells (Treg) enriched in FoxP3⁺, glucocorticoid-induced TNF receptor⁺, and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated antigen-4⁺ exert a potential to suppress effector T cells in the periphery. These cells exist in markedly higher proportions within tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, peripheral blood lymphocytes, and/or regional lymph node lymphocytes of patients with cancer and their frequencies are suggested to be strongly related to tumor progression and inversely correlated with the efficacy of treatment. Tumor-specific Treg cells require ligand-specific activation and cell-to-cell contact to exert their suppressive activity on tumor-specific effector cells (CD8⁺ cytotoxic T lymphocytes and CD4⁺ Th cells), which includes decreased cytotoxity, proliferation, and Th1 cytokine secrection. Depletion or blockade of Treg cells can enhance immune protection from tumor-associated antigens that are expressed as self antigens. Recent studies revealed that lymphoma T cells might adopt a Treg profile as well. Studies assessing the influence of chemotherapy on Treg cells have also been included in this review.