Role of LAP+CD4+ T cells in the tumor microenvironment of colorectal cancer

Table 1 Clinical characteristics of patients with colorectal cancer

Characteristics	Value1
Male	31
Female	19
Age, yr	57.4 (37-76)
Location of primary tumor
Colon	22
Rectum	28
TNM stage
I/II	23
III/IV	27

¹Values are n or mean (range).

Table 2 Primer sequences for polymerase chain reaction

Gene	Sequence (5’-3’)	Product (bp)	T (°C)
IL-2	F:5’ CAGCTACAACTGGAGCATTTAC	130	60
	R:5’ TCAGTTCTGTGGCCTTCTTG
IL-4	F:5’ GACCGTAACAGACATCTTTGC	180	60
	R:5’ TCGAGCCGTTTCAGGAAT
IL-10	F:5’ TTGCCAAGCCTTGTCTGA	160	60
	R:5’ ACAGGGAAGAAATCGATGAC
IL-17	F:5’ CCTCAGAGATCAACAGACCAA	80	60
	R:5’ GGTGCCTTGATCAGACAGAA
IFN-g	F:5’ GGCAAGGCTATGTGATTACA	180	60
	R:5’ TAAAGCACTGGCTCAGATTG
TGF-β1	F:5’ CACGTGGAGCTGTACCAGAA	219	60
	R:5’ GAACCCGTTGATGTCCACTT
18srRNA	F:5’ CCTGGATACCGCAGCTAGGA	112	60
	R:5’ GCGGCGCAATACGAATGCCCC

Table 3 Proportions of LAP⁺CD4⁺ T cells in tumor tissues and in relation to clinicopathological characteristics

	n	LAP+CD4+ Treg (%)	t	P value	95%CI
Age, yr
< 60	29	11.15 ± 2.03	0.747	0.458	-1.35-2.94
≥ 60	21	11.96 ± 4.51
Sex
Male	31	11.37 ± 3.24	0.444	0.659	-1.60-2.50
Female	19	11.82 ± 3.89
Location
Colon	22	10.35 ± 3.45	0.652	0.517	-1.11-2.18
Rectum	28	11.89 ± 3.17
TNM stage
I/II	23	8.45 ± 2.98	4.973	0.000	3.85-9.07
III/IV	27	14.90 ± 5.58
Pathological pattern
Tubular/ papillary	43	11.09 ± 3.54	1.335	0.188	-0.73-3.60
Myxoma/ ring cell	7	12.83 ± 3.26
Differentiation
High	42	10.50 ± 3.22	0.877	0.385	-1.45-3.70
Low	8	12.43 ± 3.87
Metastasis
Yes	9	12.51 ± 4.17	4.322	0.000	2.49-6.82
No	41	7.85 ± 2.61
Ileus
Yes	9	12.22 ± 3.49	0.904	0.470	-1.30-3.44
No	41	11.15 ± 3.14
CEA (ng/mL)
≤ 5	34	9.94 ± 3.15	2.692	0.010	0.81-5.58
> 5	16	13.13 ± 4.06
CA199 (U/mL)
≤ 37	32	11.34 ± 3.21	0.854	0.370	-1.51-3.85
> 37	18	12.42 ± 4.35

Table 4 Cytokine expression by LAP⁺CD4⁺ T cells and LAP^-CD4⁺ T cells in colorectal cancer microenvironment

	IL-2	IL-4	IL-10	IL-17	IFN-g	TGF-β
LAP+CD4+	0.22 ± 0.01	0.32 ± 0.12	1.13 ± 0.23	0.38 ± 0.10	0.18 ± 0.08	1.40 ± 0.15
LAP-CD4+	1.49 ± 0.37	0.86 ± 0.23	0.86 ± 0.22	0.98 ± 0.23	0.69 ± 0.21	0.89 ± 0.11
t	8.811	5.505	-2.327	6.435	5.981	-7.316
P value	0.000	0.000	0.038	0.000	0.000	0.000