Surgical Trauma-induced CCL2 Upregulation Mediates Lung Cancer Progression by Promoting Treg Recruitment in Mice and Patients

Abstract

Surgical removal of the tumor is currently the first-line treatment for lung cancer, but the procedure may accelerate cancer progression through immunosuppression. However, whether CCL2 (C-C motif chemokine ligand 2) enhances cancer progression by affecting regulatory T cells (Tregs) remains unknown. We found that the volume and weight of tumors were larger in the surgical trauma group than in the control group. CCL2 expression and Treg abundance were increased in tumor tissues after surgical trauma, and CCL2 expression was positively associated with Treg abundance. These results demonstrated that surgical trauma contributes to lung cancer progression by increasing CCL2 expression, thus promoting Treg recruitment.

Keywords:

• CCL2
• Treg
• lung cancer
• immunosuppression
• prognosis

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Hulun Li (Harbin Medical University, China) for providing skilled assistance with the flow cytometry apoptosis assay.

Declaration of interest

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

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the 2019 Fundamental Research Funds for the Provincial Universities [grant no. 2019KYYWF-0356 to X.Z.], the 2021 Fundamental Research Funds for the Provincial Universities [to Xidong Zhu], the Heilongjiang Postdoctoral Foundation [grant no. LBH-Z19185 to X.Z.], the project funded by the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [grant no. 2020M670924 to X.Z.] and Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital Top Young Talent Project [grant no. BJQN 2020-03 to X.Z.].