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Regulatory T-cell frequency and responsiveness correlate with melanoma progression

The development and progression of melanoma are believed to be associated with the activity of regulatory T-cells. A panel of different markers including CD25, Foxp3, CD127 and HLA-DR was used to analyze the frequencies of regulatory T-cells in distinct stages of disease in a recent study performed in Germany and The Netherlands. The study reports that increased levels of regulatory T-cells in melanoma patients during tumor progression correlate with a general immunosuppression manifested as reduction in T-cell responsiveness to different tumor-associated antigens and recall antigens. The study suggests that an increase in T-cell frequency observed during melanoma progression may account for the limited success of immunotherapy in patients with progressive melanoma (Correll, ...