Introduction/Background Our purpose was to study the content of lymphocytes and cytokines in the ascitic fluid (AF) of patients with ovarian cancer (OC) as probable factors of tumor progression.

Methodology The study included 20 patients aged 25–73 years with OC with ascites. The percentage content of granulocytes, monocytes, lymphocytes, their populations and subpopulations, as well as naive lymphocytes (Th0) and memory T-cells (Tm) were determined in the blood and AF by flow cytofluorimetry using the BD FACS CantoII analyzer. Levels of IL-1α, IL-1RA and IL-8 cytokines were determined by ELISA.

Results AF of patients showed elevated, compared to the blood, levels of lymphocytes and monocytes (by 2.8 and 3.3 times, respectively); the content of granulocytes was 3.3 times lower. The percentage content of T lymphocytes and their main subpopulations and the levels of B and NK cells in the blood and AF had no statistically significant differences. However, the amount of Tm in AF was higher than in the blood; the percentage of Th0 in AF was lower. The percentage of Th0 cells in the CD3+CD4+ subpopulation was 18.3±2.6% in the blood and 8.3±1.4% in AF, in CD3+CD8+ 19.7±1.9 and 11.5±1.5% respectively (p<0.05). The results for Tm in CD3+CD4+ were 69.4±2.9 in the blood and 80.6±2.1% in AF, in CD3+CD8+ 40.0±4.3 and 60.0±3.9% respectively (p<0.05). AF showed a sharp excess of most cytokines over their serum levels, the maximal one for IL-1α (by 273 times) and the minimal one for IL-8 (by 2 times); only levels of IL-1RA in AF were lower than in the blood.

Conclusion The increase in the content of monocytes and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines produced by them and by tumor cells in AF of OC patients supports tumor growth due to inhibition of the activity of memory T-cells, despite their high quantitative level.

Disclosure Nothing to disclose.