Correlation of Immune Cells and Cytokines in the Tumor Microenvironment with Elevated Neutrophil-To-Lymphocyte Ratio in Blood: An Analysis of Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer

Abstract

We investigated the relationship between Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and the quantities of neutrophil elastase, CD3, Foxp3, and CD204 in tumor-infiltrating cells and circulating cytokines (IL-2, -6, -8, 17a, and TGF-β) in muscle-invasive bladder cancer. IL-6 and IL-8 levels showed a significant correlation with NLR in blood and Foxp3+ cells around the tumor. After co-culture of peripheral blood cells with bladder cancer cell lines, the induction of regulatory T cell (Treg) was higher in T24 whose IL-6 and IL-8 levels were higher. High NLR correlates with increased IL-6 and IL-8 and Treg expression.

Keywords:

• NLR
• Foxp3
• IL-6
• IL-8
• muscle-invasive bladder cancer

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Funding

JSPS KAKENHI Grant Numbers 16K20159 (M.M.), 26861290 (K.F.) and Fiscal Years 2015-2016 Nara Medical University Grant-in-Aid for Collaborative Research Projects (K.F. and M.M.).