T cell subpopulations in lymph nodes may not be predictive of patient outcome in colorectal cancer

Background: the immune response has been proposed to be an important factor in determining patient outcome in colorectal cancer (crc). previous studies have concentrated on characterizing t cell populations in the primary tumour where t cells with regulatory effect (foxp3+ tregs) have been identified as both enhancing and diminishing anti-tumour immune responses. no previous studies have characterized the t cell response in the regional lymph nodes in crc. methods. immunohistochemistry was used to analyse cd4,cd8 or foxp3+ t cell populations in the regional lymph nodes of patients with stage ii crc (n = 31),with (n = 13) or without (n = 18) cancer recurrence after 5 years of follow up,to determine if the priming environment for anti-tumour immunity was associated with clinical outcome. results: the proportions of cd4,cd8 or foxp3+ cells in the lymph nodes varied widely between and within patients,and there was no association between t cell populations and cancer recurrence or other clinicopathological characteristics. conclusions: these data indicate that frequency of these t cell subsets in lymph nodes may not be a useful tool for predicting patient outcome. © 2011 kemp et al; licensee biomed central ltd.