Preferential apoptosis of CD56dim natural killer cell subset in patients with cancer

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Abstract
Natural killer (NK) cells (CD56+/CD3–) in the circulation of cancer patients were reported to have low NK activity and undergo spontaneous apoptosis. A possible relationship between apoptosis and impaired NK activity was studied by Annexin V-binding and NK-cell assays performed with peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with head and neck cancer (HNC), breast cancer (BC) and normal controls (NC). Cells stained with Annexin V (Anx) and antibodies to CD56, CD3, CD95, CD25, CD122 or CD132 were examined by flow cytometry. NK activity was tested against K562 targets in 4-h 51Cr-release assays. The ratio of CD56dim/CD56bright NK cells was significantly different in patients vs. controls (10 vs. 16; pdim NK cells bound Anx in HNC patients (27±17%, median ± SD) or BC (46±18%) than in NC (15±18%, ppdim NK cells were preferentially targeted for apoptosis. NK activity was significantly lower in patients with HNC and BC than in NC (p+CD56dim NK cells was observed in cancer patients (p =0.002) but not in NC. In patients, circulating CD56dim NK cells were targeted for apoptosis, leading to low levels of NK activity.

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