The effect of regulatory T cells level in peripheral blood on the prognosis in HCC patients after TACE

Objective To discuss the correlation between regulatory T cells(Treg) level in peripheral blood and the prognosis in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) after transcatheter arterial chemoembolization(TACE).Methods A total of 122 patients with HCC who received TACE at authors' hospital were enrolled in this study.The CD3+ T,CD4+ T,CD8+ T,NK and Treg levels in peripheral blood were assessed by flow cytometry method.The relationship between the Treg level in peripheral blood and the survival time was evaluated by Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier analysis.Results In HCC patients after TACE,the ratio of Treg cells to CD4+ T was significantly increased(6.109 and 6.834,P = 0.000).In lower ratio group(ratio of Treg cells to CD4+ T 6.7),the median survival time of patients was 19.3 months,while in higher ratio group(ratio of Treg cells to CD4+ T ≥ 6.7),the median survival time of patients was 12.0 months.The difference between the two groups was statistically significant by using single factor analysis(χ2 = 8.771,P = 0.003) or multivariate analysis(P = 0.020).Conclusion The Treg level in peripheral blood is an independent predictive factor for judging the prognosis of HCC patients after TACE.