Abstract: The Correlation of Reguolarory T Cells in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients with Prognosis:A Report of 138 CasesYongli FAN, Jinpu YU, Hui LI, Shui CAO, Baozhu REN, Naining ZHANG,Wenwen YU, Xiubao RENCorrespondence to: Xiubao REN, E-mail: rwziyi@yahoo.comDepartment of Immunology Laboratory, Department of Caner Biotherapy, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital,Tianjin 300060, ChinaThis study was supported by Tianjin Science and Technology Innovation Special Found Projects (No. 06FZZDSF01500) and the Proj-ect of the Science & Technology Pillar Program of Tianjin (No. 09JCZDJC20400)Abstract Objective: To evaluate the relationship of lymphocyte subsets in hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC ) patients with prog-nosis. Methods: Data of 138 HCC patients were retrospectively analyzed. Flow cytometry was used to analyze the changes in severalsubsets of lymphocyte in the peripheral blood of HCC patients of early and advanced stages. The influence of subsets of lymphocyteson prognosis of HCC was analyzed. Results: The survival time ranged 1-34.5 months and the overall 1- and 2-year survival rates were61% and 39%, respectively. The median survival time of early and advanced stage disease was 28 and 12 months. The percentage ofCD4+ T cells of advanced stage HCC patients was lower than that of early stage HCC ( P < 0.05 ). The percentages of Treg and NKcells of advanced stage HCC patients were lower than those of early stage HCC patients ( P < 0.05 ). Univariate analysis showed thatTreg was the only influential factor for the overall survival of HCC patients. The percentage of Treg cells in peripheral blood of HCCpatients with cirrhosis was higher than that in peripheral blood of HCC patients without cirrhosis ( P = 0.029 ). The percentage of Tregcells in HCC patients with normal ferritin level was higher than in HCC patients with higher ferritin level ( P = 0.027 ). Conclusion: Tosome extent, the immune function of HCC patients is associated with their prognosis. The percentage of Treg is an independent prognos-tic factor for advanced stage HCC patients with cirrhosis.Keywords Hepatocellular carcinoma; Immune function; T cell subsets; Treg; Prognosis