Case Control Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2020. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jan 6, 2020; 8(1): 11-19
Published online Jan 6, 2020. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v8.i1.11
Oncogenic role of Tc17 cells in cervical cancer development
Zun-Sheng Zhang, Ying Gu, Bing-Gang Liu, Hong Tang, Yu Hua, Jun Wang
Zun-Sheng Zhang, Ying Gu, Bing-Gang Liu, Hong Tang, Yu Hua, Jun Wang, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Seventh People’s Hospital, Shanghai 200120, China
Author contributions: Zhang ZS and Gu Y designed the research; Tang H and Hua Y performed the research; Liu BG analyzed the data; Wang J wrote the paper.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Shanghai Seventh People’s Hospital Ethics Committee.
Informed consent statement: All patients in our study provided informed consent.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jun Wang, MSc, Attending Doctor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Seventh People’s Hospital, No. 358, Datong Road, Gaoqiao Town, Pudong New Area, Shanghai 200120, China. wanchuang3069629@163.com
Received: October 7, 2019
Peer-review started: October 7, 2019
First decision: November 13, 2019
Revised: November 18, 2019
Accepted: November 30, 2019
Article in press: November 30, 2019
Published online: January 6, 2020
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

The existence of Tc17 cells was recently shown in several types of inflammatory diseases.

Research motivation

The distribution and functions of Tc17 cells in cervical cancer have not been fully elucidated.

Research objectives

To investigate the role of Tc17 cells in the pathogenesis of cervical cancer.

Research methods

The frequency of Tc17 cells in blood and tumor samples from patients with cervical cancer was determined by flow cytometry. In addition, the levels and phenotype of Tc17 cells in tissue samples from cervical cancer patients were assessed by immunohistochemistry staining.

Research results

Tc17 cells specifically accumulate in the tumor tissues of cervical cancer patients. Cervical cancer-elicited inflammation increases Tc17-polarizing cytokine production, which attenuates cytotoxic CD8+ T cell development. High interleukin-17 production by Tc17 cells leads to CXCL12 upregulation and cancer cell migration.

Research conclusions

Consistent with the oncogenic role of Tc17 cells in cancer development, the ratio of cancer-infiltrating Tc17 cells is highly associated with poor prognosis in patients with cervical cancer.

Research perspectives

This study indicates that Tc17 cells in cervical cancer and their regulatory mechanisms are associated with cancer progression.