Effect of Age on NK Cell Compartment in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients Treated With Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors

Changes in immunological parameters by ageing in rural healthy Indian adults and their associations with sex and lifestyle

Several factors including sex and lifestyle have been reported to contribute to the age-related alteration of immune functions. The study was undertaken to determine age-related differences in the proportion of peripheral blood mononuclear lymphocytes in the Indian population using blood samples from 67 healthy adults (33 females and 34 males) aged between 20 and 80 years old. In the linear regression analysis to estimate the relationship with age categories, there was a significant increase in the frequency of natural killer cells with ageing, while their cytolytic activity significantly declined. The frequency of CD4+ T cells increased with age, whereas that of CD8+ T cells decreased, resulting in the age-associated increase of the CD4/CD8 ratio. The subsets of B cells did not show any significant relationship with age. Although there were variations between the male and female subgroups in effect size of ageing, the trends were in the same direction in all the parameters. Reduced fat intake was associated with a lower frequency of CD4+ T cells, and higher serum cotinine level was associated with a higher CD4/CD8 ratio. The results indicate that cellular immunity in the Indian population is affected by ageing, while humoral immunity is less susceptible to ageing.

The Role of Natural Killer Cells in Soft Tissue Sarcoma: Prospects for Immunotherapy

Simple Summary

Soft-tissue sarcomas (STS) represent about 80% of sarcomas, and are a heterogeneous group of rare and malignant tumors. Morphological evaluation has been the standard model for the diagnosis of sarcomas, and even in samples with similar characteristics, they present genetic differences, which further increases the diversity of sarcomas. This variety is one of the main challenges for the classification and understanding of STS patterns, as well as for the respective treatments, which further decreases patient survival (<5 years). Natural Killer (NK) cells have a fundamental role in the control and immune surveillance of cancer development, progression and metastases. Notwithstanding the scarcity of studies to characterize NK cells in STS, it is noteworthy that the progression of these malignancies is associated with altered NK cells. These findings support the additional need to explore NK cell-based immunotherapy in STS; some clinical trials, although very tentatively, are already underway.

Abstract

Soft-tissue sarcomas (STS) represent about 80% of sarcomas, and are a heterogeneous group of rare and malignant tumors. STS arise from mesenchymal tissues and can grow into structures such as adipose tissue, muscles, nervous tissue and blood vessels. Morphological evaluation has been the standard model for the diagnosis of sarcomas, and even in samples with similar characteristics, they present a diversity in cytogenetic and genetic sequence alterations, which further increases the diversity of sarcomas. This variety is one of the main challenges for the classification and understanding of STS patterns, as well as for their respective treatments, which further decreases patient survival (<5 years). Despite some studies, little is known about the immunological profile of STS. As for the immunological profile of STS in relation to NK cells, there is also a shortage of studies. Observations made in solid tumors show that the infiltration of NK cells in tumors is associated with a good prognosis of the disease. Notwithstanding the scarcity of studies to characterize NK cells, their receptors, and ligands in STS, it is noteworthy that the progression of these malignancies is associated with altered NK phenotypes. Despite the scarcity of information on the function of NK cells, their phenotypes and their regulatory pathways in STS, the findings of this study support the additional need to explore NK cell-based immunotherapy in STS further. Some clinical trials, very tentatively, are already underway. STS clinical trials are still the basis for adoptive NK-cell and cytokine-based therapy.