Incidence and Prognostic Impact of FoxP3+ Regulatory T Cells in Human Gliomas

Abstract
Purpose: The incidence of regulatory T cells (Treg) in intrinsic central nervous system malignancies is unknown. Immunotherapeutic approaches that inhibit the Treg population may be limited to a subset of patients with gliomas. Our hypothesis is that only the most malignant gliomas have a prominent glioma-infiltrating Treg population that contributes to the immunosuppressive biology and that the presence of Tregs is a negative prognostic variable.