Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) represent the most common primary liver malignancies whose outcome is influenced by the immune response.Methods: In this study, we have functionally characterized, by flow cytometry, circulating myeloid dendritic cells (mDCs) and FcεRI + monocytes in a group of healthy individuals (n = 10) and in a group of patients with HCC (n = 19) and CCA (n = 8), at the time point of the surgical resection (T0) and once the patient had recovered from surgery (T1). Moreover, we proceeded to a more in depth phenotypic characterization of the FcεRI + monocyte subpopulation.Results: A significant decrease in the frequency of TNFα producing FcεRI + monocytes and mDCs in HCC and CCA patients when compared to the group of healthy individuals was observed, and a close association between FcεRI + monocytes and mDCs dysfunction was identified. In addition, the phenotypic characteristics of FcεRI + monocytes from healthy individuals strongly suggest that this population drives to mDCs, which matches with the fact that both populations are functionally affected.Conclusions: The frequency and the function of circulating mDCs and FcεRI + monocytes are affected in both HCC and CCA patients, and FcεRI + monocytes could represent those fated to become mDCs.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) represent the most common primary liver malignancies whose outcome is influenced by the immune response. In the present study, we evaluated the tumor-infiltrating leukocyte (TIL) populations in 21 HCC patients and 8 CCA patients by flow cytometry immediately after the surgical procedure. Moreover, CD4
+
T cells, CD8
+
T cells, monocytes, and macrophages were purified by cell sorting for further analysis of gene expression by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. Regarding tumor-infiltrating macrophages, we observed a significantly higher expression of markers associated with M2 phenotype and a higher expression of PD-L1 in patients with HCC in comparison to CCA. In addition, for HCC patients, we found a significant increase in the expression of CD200R in macrophages from tumors that were in grade G3-G4 as compared to tumors in grade G1-G2. Besides, a significantly higher frequency of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, CD8
+
CD56
+
T cells, and natural killer cells was detected in HCC biopsies in comparison to CCA. In summary, this study has revealed functional and phenotypic differences in TIL cell subpopulations between CCA and HCC, as well as among different histopathological grades and tumor aggressiveness degrees, and it has provided evidence to better understand the tumor immune microenvironment of CCA and HCC.
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