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Background: Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play an important role in regulation of immune response and immunologic tolerance in cancer. Gastrointestinal cancer is still a leading cause of cancer-related death in the world. This study aimed to detect Tregs in patients with gastrointestinal cancer. Methods: In this study, 45 gastric cancer patients, 50 colorectal cancer patients and 50 healthy controls were enrolled. Flow cytometry was used to detect CD4+CD25hiCD127low Tregs, CD4+CD25hi, and CD4+ cells in peripheral blood. Cytokine interleukin-10 (IL-10) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in peripheral blood and in the supernatant of Tregs cultures were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Compared with healthy controls, the levels of CD4+CD25hiCD127low Tregs and CD4+CD25hi cells increased significantly in patients with gastrointestinal cancer. Patients with gastrointestinal cancer also showed a significantly increased levels of IL-10 and TGF-β1 in both peripheral blood and CD4+CD25hiCD127low Tregs culture medium. Conclusion: The present study firstly demonstrated that gastrointestinal patients have a compromised immune status where the CD4+CD25hiCD127low Tregs, as well as levels of IL-10 and TGF-β1 are elevated. The data offered new information for understanding the immunological features of gastrointestinal patients, as well as provided new insights into approaches to develop new immunotherapies for patients with gastrointestinal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It has been demonstrated that urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) is involved in tumor cell metastasis by degrading the extracellular matrix. However, there is little direct evidence of clinical uPA system expression in peritoneal metastatic tissues of gastric cancer. The objective of this study was to investigate uPA system expression in peritoneal tissues of peritoneal and nonperitoneal metastasis patients, and to explore the diagnostic value of the uPA system., Methods: Expressions of uPA, uPAR, and PAI-1 were measured by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and ELISA. uPA activity was detected using a uPA activity kit., Results: There was no significant difference in uPA, uPAR, and PAI-1 expression in two types of peritoneal tissue in seven patients with peritoneal metastasis. However, uPA, uPAR, and PAI-1 expressions in peritoneal metastatic lesions were significantly higher than those in normal peritoneal tissues of 24 nonperitoneal metastasis patients (P <0.05). Moreover, no statistical discrepancy of uPA activity was observed in various different tissues., Conclusions: The expression of the uPA system positively correlates with peritoneal metastasis of gastric cancer. This expression difference in peritoneal or nonperitoneal metastasis patients may provide a reference for diagnosis of peritoneal metastasis.