T-regulatory lymphocytes (Tregs) are a subset of T lymphocytes that are involved in the mechanism of immunotolerance to self- and allo-antigens. Activity of these cells is one of the mechanisms of immune evasion of tumors, which inhibits the antitumor activity of effector cells. Tregs are among the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and circulate in the peripheral blood. In various cancer types, increased prevalence of Tregs has been observed, and in some studies, this has been reported as a prognostic factor.

A research article published on January 21, 2011 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology addresses this question. The authors studied the peripheral blood Tregs as a potential disease marker, which was relatively easy to measure during pretreatment and follow-up periods.

The results indicated that the absolute number of Tregs in peripheral blood of gastric cancer but not colorectal cancer patients was significantly decreased in comparison with that in healthy controls. The findings suggest that the population of Tregs in peripheral blood does not simply mimic stromal Tregs. Further studies on larger groups of patients are necessary to evaluate the Treg population in cancer patients.

Reference: Szczepanik AM, Siedlar M, Sierzega M, Goroszeniuk D, Bukowska-Strakova K, Czupryna A, Kulig J. T-regulatory lymphocytes in peripheral blood of gastric and colorectal cancer patients. World J Gastroenterol 2011; 17(3): 343-348

http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/full/v17/i3/343.htm

Correspondence to: Antoni M Szczepanik, MD, 1st Department of General and Gastrointestinal Surgery, Jagiellonian University Medical College, 40 Kopernika street, 31-501 Krakow, Poland. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Telephone: +48-12-4248007 Fax: +48-12-4248007

About World Journal of Gastroenterology

World Journal of Gastroenterology (WJG), a leading international journal in gastroenterology and hepatology, has established a reputation for publishing first class research on esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, viral hepatitis, colorectal cancer, and H. pylori infection and provides a forum for both clinicians and scientists. WJG has been indexed and abstracted in Current Contents/Clinical Medicine, Science Citation Index Expanded (also known as SciSearch) and Journal Citation Reports/Science Edition, Index Medicus, MEDLINE and PubMed, Chemical Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Abstracts Journals, Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology and Hepatology, CAB Abstracts and Global Health. ISI JCR 2009 IF: 2.092. WJG is a weekly journal published by WJG Press. The publication dates are the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th day of every month. WJG is supported by The National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30224801 and No. 30424812, and was founded with the name of China National Journal of New Gastroenterology on October 1, 1995, and renamed WJG on January 25, 1998.

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