phD Universidad de Guadalajara Juanacatlan, Jalisco, Mexico
Abstract Text: Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of death in developing countries. Similar to other types of tumors, the immune response plays an important in controlling the development of cervical neoplasia. However, malignant cells can often escape from immuno surveillance. For this reason, many of the newest therapies against cancer cells are directed at restoring immune responses. NKT cells (CD3+CD56+) share characteristics of T and NK cells and thus possess both innate and acquired immune functions. However, the contribution of these cells in immune checkpoint blockade therapy remains to be investigated. In this study we evaluated the expression of immunocheckpoint receptors (PD-1, TIGIT and Tim-3) in CD3+CD56+ lymphocytes. Peripheral blood cells from patients with cervical carcinoma (CC, n = 21), high-grade lesions (HG n = 9), low-grade lesions (LG,n = 24) and healthy donors (HD n = 24) were analyzed by multiparametric flow cytometry. Our results showed that CD3+CD56+ cells frequencies were increased in CC patients. We saw a significant increase in the percentages of these cells expressing inhibitory PD-1 or TIGIT, and a significant increase of TIGIT+DNAM+ cells, in the CC patients. A deeper characterization of these cells may help to clarify their role in cervical cancer.
