Changes of dendritic cells subsets and their HLA-DR expression in peripheral blood of breast cancer patients

AIM: To explore the changes of the subsets and HLA-DR expression of dendritic cells and their concerning cytokine levels in peripheral blood of patients with breast cancer. METHODS: The subsets of the precussors of dendritic cells (pDC) in the peripheral blood of 57 cases of patients with breast cancer before operation and a week or six months after operation and 20 cases of healthy controls were analyzed by four-color FCM. The levels of IL-12p40, IL-10, IFN-γ and IL-4 in the plasmas were tested by ELISA. RESULTS: Among 57 cases of patients with breast cancer, 2 cases in Ⅲ phase and 4 cases in Ⅳphase expressed deficiency of pDC, the ratios of pDC₁/pDC₂ in the other cases inⅠ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ, Ⅳ phase were respectively 1.62±0.59, 1.41±0.63, 0.91±0.32, 0.81±0.29 before operation, which were markedly lower than those in controls (1.94±0.44). The ratios of pDC₁/pDC₂ in the cases inⅠ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ phase were 1.71±0.47, 1.52±0.54, 1.04±0.36 a week after operation, which were the same as those in pre-operation, but markedly lower than those in controls. The ratios of pDC₁/pDC₂ in the cases inⅠ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ phase were 1.92±0.72, 1.63±0.65, 1.28±0.34 six months after operation, which were markedly higher than those in pre-operation, meanwhile, to compare with controls, those were still lower for patients in Ⅱ, Ⅲ phase except in Ⅰphase. No difference between patients and controls in the expression of HLA-DR of pDCs and the levels of IL-12p40, IL-10, IFN-γ, IL-4 in plasmas and the ratios of IL-12p40/ IL-10, IFN-γ/ IL-4 was observed. CONCLUSION: The ratios of pDC₁/pDC₂ in peripheral blood of patients with breast cancer inⅠ-Ⅳ phase are decreased. Parts of patients in Ⅲ, Ⅳ phase are deficiency of pDCs. HLA-DR expression of DCs and the ability of DCs which secret the concerning cytokines do not change as pDC subsets change. pDC subsets improve markedly inⅡ, Ⅲ phase patients and recover to the normal level inⅠphase patients after operation.