Increased infiltration of regulatory T cells in hepatocellular carcinoma of patients with hepatitis B virus pre-S2 mutant.

ABSTRACT: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a frequent and deadly human cancer worldwide that is intimately associated with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Pre-S2 mutant is a HBV oncoprotein that plays important roles in HCC development and is linked to poor prognosis in HCC patients. However, the profiles of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in HCC tissues of pre-S2 mutant-positive patients remain unknown. In this study, we performed fluorescent immunohistochemistry staining to detect the infiltration of 'anti-tumor' cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) and 'pro-tumor' regulatory T cells (Tregs) in pre-S2 mutant-positive and -negative HCC patients. We showed that pre-S2 mutant-positive patients had a significantly higher infiltration of CD4⁺CD25⁺ cells and forkhead box P3 (F

SUBMITTER: Teng CF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7807072 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature