Participation of Increased Circulating MAIT Cells in Lung Cancer: a Pilot Study

Qian Zhang; Pengli Li; Wenqin Zhou; Shu Fang; Jiong Wang

doi:10.7150/jca.69415

Participation of Increased Circulating MAIT Cells in Lung Cancer: a Pilot Study

J Cancer. 2022 Mar 6;13(5):1623-1629. doi: 10.7150/jca.69415. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Qian Zhang¹, Pengli Li¹, Wenqin Zhou¹, Shu Fang^{2

3}, Jiong Wang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Geriatric Respiratory and Critical Care, Anhui Geriatric Institute, the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
² School of Biomedical Engineering, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.
³ 3D-Printing and Tissue Engineering Center, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, China.

Abstract

Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are a subset of innate-like T cells that regulate the immune response via rapidly releasing inflammatory factors, including during progression of some tumors. However, the immunological role of MAIT cells is still unclear in lung cancer. We measured percentage, partial function, and clinical correlation of circulating MAIT cells from lung cancer patients through flow cytometry. Lung cancer patients displayed a high concentration of CD4⁺, CD8⁺, and activated CD38⁺CD8⁺MAIT cells, and a decrease of PD1⁺ double negative (DN) MAIT cells in peripheral blood. Meanwhile, increased levels of interferon-γ, interleukin (IL)-6, and 8 were examined in the serum of lung cancer patients. Importantly, we discovered a statistically positive association between accumulation of CD38⁺CD8⁺MAIT cells and reduced progression-free survival of lung cancer patients. While preliminary, the altering frequency of MAIT cells might be involved in dysfunctional immune response in lung cancer.

Keywords: CD38; Lung cancer; MAIT cell; Peripheral blood.