Effect of CA125 on the Cellular Immune Function in Patients with Ovarian Cancer

  Objective  To detect the effects of CA125 on cellular immune function of the ovarian cancer (OC) patients in vitro.

  Methods  Totally 58 patients with confirmed OC in our hospital from May 2012 to June 2013 were divided into three groups based on the CA125 levels. Meanwhile, 20 healthy subjects(control group) and 20 patients with benign gynecological diseases (benign diseases group) were also included. The in vitro ability of healthy human lymphocytes in secreting interferon-γ (IFN-γ) under the stimulation of phytohemagglutinin(PHA) was observed by cell culture, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT).

  Results  In OC patients, the count and percentage of lymphocytes decreased gradually with elevated levels of CA125. The concentration of IFN-γ in the supernatant of cultured lymphocytes from healthy individuals decreased significantly under the stimulation of PHA and high concentration of CA125(36.16±16.89)ng/mlcompared with that of PHA alone (45.68±18.01)ng/ml or PHA and low concentration of CA125 (46.22±19.30)ng/ml(both P < 0.05). Compared with the control group(spots number 573.0) and the benign diseases group(spots number 523.0), the high(spots number 108.2) and intermediate(spots number 371.6) concentration of CA125 had significant inhibitory effect on the cellular immune system, as detected by ELISPOT (P < 0.01, P < 0.05, respectively). After removal of CA125 from the serum by antibody, the inhibitory effect was weakened significantly.

  Conclusions  The concentration of CA125 in OC patient is negatively correlated with the number and activity of lymphocytes, in particular their abilities in releasing cytokines. CA125 is not only a biomarker of OC but also may serve as an immunosuppressive factor.