Expression of immunophenotypic markers in blood mononuclear cells of patients with advanced head and neck squamous cells carcinoma.

PURPOSE: To evaluate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) in comparison with healthy volunteers, as they can be potential biomarkers.

METHODS

Immunophenotyping was performed using flow cytometry of blood mononuclear cells from two groups of adult men: group 1 (n = 14), diagnosed with HNSCC (mouth, larynx, and hypopharynx); and group 2 (n = 14), volunteers, healthy, and without the use of drugs. The cell groups studied were T lymphocytes (CD3, CD4, CD8, CD56 and CD69), B lymphocytes (CD19, CD69), neutrophils (CD11a, CD16, CD66b, HLA-DR), and monocytes (CD14, CD86).

RESULTS

In group 1, there were an increase in CD3+CD4+ T lymphocytes (p < 0.001) and NK 56+ cells (p = 0.009) and a decrease in CD3+CD8+ T lymphocytes (p = 0.02) in comparison with group 2. In patients with HNSCC, an increase was found in the expression of the CD69 marker in CD3+CD4+ T lymphocytes (p = 0.03) and CD19+ B lymphocytes (p = 0.01) when compared to healthy volunteers.

CONCLUSION

HNSCC triggers a systemic inflammatory response with a decrease in CD8 T cells and an increase in CD4 T and CD56 natural killer cells. CD69 early activation marker was expressed by T and B cells.