Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIM: New therapeutic agents and prognostic biomarkers for gastric cancer are needed. We analyzed the composition of peripheral blood T-cell subpopulations in response to chemotherapy in patients with gastric cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Peripheral blood samples were collected from patients diagnosed with gastric cancer before and after chemotherapy (FOLFOX; oxaliplatin, 5-fluorouracil, and leucovorin). Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were isolated. Patients were divided into responder (n=5) and non-responder groups (n=2) based on their chemotherapy outcomes. RESULTS: Non-responders showed lower numbers of CD4+/total cells and CD8+/total cells after chemotherapy compared to the responder group, but the difference was not significant (p=0.905, p=0.095). Naïve T, central memory T, effector memory T and effector T-cell counts differed in both groups after chemotherapy. CONCLUSION: Changes in peripheral T-cell subpopulations after chemotherapy were confirmed in patients with gastric cancer, which may be a prognostic predictor and development of therapeutic agents.