The Significance Of The CTLA-4 And FOXP3 Expression In Lung Adenocarcinoma And Its TILs

Objectives To detect the protein expression of cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4(CTLA-4)and fork-head transcription factor P3(FOXP3)in lung adenocarcinoma,analyze the protein expression of CTLA-4 and FOXP3 and its relationship with clinical characteristics in lung adenocarcinoma and its tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes(TILs),investigate the correlation and clinical significance of the protein expression of CTLA-4and FOXP3 in lung adenocarcinoma and its TILs,provide partial experimental data for clinical immunotherapy of lung adenocarcinoma.Methods A total of 57 cases of lung adenocarcinoma(experimental group)and 20 cases of benign lung lesions(control group)were collected as subjects,the protein expression of CTLA-4 and FOXP3 was detected by the EnVision two-step method.Results 1 The positive rate of CTLA-4 protein was 42.1%(24/57)in the tumor cells of experimental group,as it was 0%(0/20)in control group,the positive rate of CTLA-4protein was significantly higher than that in control group,the difference was significant(P=0.000).The expression of CTLA-4 protein was related to the tumor differentiation degree in experimental group,the positive rate was significantly higher in the medium-low differentiation group(57.1%,16/28)than that in the high differentiation group(including adenocarcinoma in situ)(27.6%,8/29),the difference was significant(P=0.024);while there were no correlation among the expression of CTLA-4protein with the gender,age,smoking history,lymph node metastasis or clinical stages of patients,all the difference was not significant(P>0.05).2 The positive rate of CTLA-4protein was 63.2%(36/57)in the TILs of experimental group,as it was 25%(5/20)in control group,the positive rate of CTLA-4 protein was significantly higher than that in control group,the difference was significant(P=0.003).The expression of CTLA-4 protein was related to the clinical stages in the TILs of experimental group,the positive rate was significantly higher in Phase Ⅲ-Ⅳ group(86.7%,13/15)than that in Phase Ⅰ-Ⅱgroup(54.8%,23/42),the difference was significant(P=0.028);while there were no correlation among the expression of CTLA-4 protein with the gender,age,smoking history,tumor differentiation degree or lymph node metastasis of patients,all the difference was not significant(P>0.05).3 The positive rate of FOXP3 protein was 49.1%(28/57)in the tumor cells of experimental group,as it was 0%(0/20)in control group,the positive rate of FOXP3 protein was significantly higher than that in control group,the difference was significant(P=0.000).The expression of FOXP3 protein was related to the lymph node metastasis and clinical stages in experimental group,the positive rate was significantly higher in the lymph node metastasis group(80.0%,12/15)than that in non-lymph node metastasis group(38.1%,16/42)(P=0.005),and the positive rate was significantly higher in Phase Ⅲ-Ⅳ group(73.3%,11/15)than that in Phase Ⅰ-Ⅱ group(40.5%,17/42)(P=0.029),all the difference was significant;while there were no correlation among the expression of FOXP3 protein with the gender,age,smoking history or tumor differentiation degree of patients,all the difference was not significant(P>0.05).4 The positive rate of FOXP3 protein was 57.9%(33/57)in the TILs of experimental group,as it was 30%(6/20)in control group,the positive rate of FOXP3 protein was significantly higher than that in control group,the difference was significant(P=0.032).The expression of FOXP3 protein was related to the clinical stages in the TILs of experimental group,the positive rate was significantly higher in Phase Ⅲ-Ⅳ group(86.7%,13/15)than that in Phase Ⅰ-Ⅱgroup(47.6%,20/42),the difference was significant(P=0.009);while there were no correlation among the expression of FOXP3 protein with the gender,age,smoking history,tumor differentiation degree or lymph node metastasis of patients,all the difference was not significant(P>0.05).5 In experimental group,the protein expression of CTLA-4 and FOXP3 in the tumor cells(r=0.299,P=0.024)and its TILs(r=0.306,P=0.020)were positively correlated.Conclusions 1 The positive rate of CTLA-4 protein expression is increased in lung adenocarcinoma tumor cells and its TILs.The expression of CTLA-4 protein in lung adenocarcinoma tumor cells is related to the tumor differentiation degree,and the expression in its TILs is related to clinical stages.2 The positive rate of FOXP3 protein expression is increased in lung adenocarcinoma tumor cells and its TILs.The expression of FOXP3 protein in lung adenocarcinoma tumor cells is associated with lymph node metastasis and clinical stages,and the expression in its TILs is associated with clinical stages.3 It was positively correlated between the CTLA-4 protein and FOXP3 protein in lung adenocarcinoma and its TILs.Figure 3;Table 5;Reference 144...