Regulatory B cells producing IL-10 are increased in human tumor draining lymph nodes.
Krzysztof PiersialaEric HjalmarssonPedro Farrajota Neves da SilvaVilma LagebroAeneas KolevMagnus StarkhammarAlexandra ElliotLinda MarklundEva Munck-WiklandGregori MargolinSusanna Kumlien GeorénLars-Olaf CardellPublished in: International journal of cancer (2023)
The contribution of different immune cell subsets, especially T cells, in anti-tumor immune response is well established. In contrast to T cells, the anti-tumor contribution of B cells has been scarcely investigated. B-cells are often overlooked, even though they are important players in a fully integrated immune response and constitute a substantial fraction of tumor draining lymph nodes (TDLNs) known also as Sentinel Nodes. In this project, samples including TDLNs, non-TDLNs (nTDLNs) and metastatic lymph nodes from 21 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma were analyzed by flow cytometry. TDLNs were characterized by a significantly higher proportion of B cells compared with nTDLNs (P = .0127). TDLNs-associated B cells contained high percentages of naïve B cells, in contrary to nTDLNs which contained significantly higher percentages of memory B cells. Patients having metastases in TDLNs showed a significantly higher presence of immunosuppressive B regulatory cells compared with metastasis-free patients (P = .0008). Elevated levels of regulatory B cells in TDLNs were associated with the advancement of the disease. B cells in TDLNs were characterized by significantly higher expression of an immunosuppressive cytokine-IL-10 compared with nTDLNs (P = .0077). Our data indicate that B cells in human TDLNs differ from B cells in nTDLNs and exhibit more naïve and immunosuppressive phenotypes. We identified a high accumulation of regulatory B cells within TDLNs which may be a potential obstacle in achieving response to novel cancer immunotherapies (ICIs) in head and neck cancer.
Keyphrases
- lymph node
- immune response
- end stage renal disease
- chronic kidney disease
- transcription factor
- flow cytometry
- ejection fraction
- endothelial cells
- sentinel lymph node
- squamous cell carcinoma
- prognostic factors
- magnetic resonance imaging
- poor prognosis
- dendritic cells
- high resolution
- peripheral blood
- cell death
- climate change
- patient reported outcomes
- toll like receptor
- oxidative stress
- mass spectrometry
- neoadjuvant chemotherapy
- inflammatory response
- data analysis
- magnetic resonance
- papillary thyroid
- lymph node metastasis
- patient reported