Serum CD4 is associated with the infiltration of CD4+T cells in the
tumor microenvironment of gastric cancer
Abstract
Serum CD4, CD8 and CD19 are markers of systemic inflammation. However,
there is little evidence on the influence of inflammation on the tumor
microenvironment and the prognostic indicators of gastric cancer (GC).
In this study, two hundred and eight patients who underwent radical
gastrectomy for GC were included. Preoperative peripheral blood samples
were used to analyze serum CD4, CD8 and CD19. The optimal cutoff levels
for CD4, CD8 and CD19 were defined by receiver operating characteristic
curve analysis (CD4=38.85%, CD8=14.35% and CD19=7.40%). The areas
with specific CD4+T cells, CD8+T cells and CD19+B cells within the tumor
microenvironment were measured in paraffin sections by
immunohistochemistry and analyzed by Image-Pro Plus. 94 patients had low
CD4 and 124 patients had high CD4 levels. 31 patients had low CD8 and
187 patients had high CD8 levels. 64 patients had low CD19 and 154
patients had high CD19 levels. Infiltration of CD4+T cells was
associated with serum CD4 (P<0.001). Serum CD4, CD19, and the
infiltration of CD4+T cells, CD8+T cells, and CD19+B cells were
significant in predicting the prognosis of GC. Low CD4 level,
infiltration of CD8+T cells and high infiltration of CD4+T cells and
CD19+B cells were correlated with worse overall survival in multivariate
analysis. Collectively, our results provide evidence that serum CD4 is
associated with the infiltration of CD4+T cells in the tumor
microenvironment, which indicates the prognostic value of systemic
inflammation in GC.