Effective modulation of CD4^sup +^CD25^sup +high^ regulatory T and NK cells in malignant patients by combination of interferon-[alpha] and interleukin-2

(ProQuest: ... denotes formulae and/or non-USASCII text omitted; see image) Overinduced CD4^sup +^CD25^sup +high^ regulatory T cells (Treg) and downregulated NK cells contribute to tumor-relevant immune tolerance and interfere with tumor immunity. In this study, we aimed to design a novel strategy with cytokine combination to correct the dysregulated Treg and NK cells in malignant patients. Initially, a total of 58 healthy individuals and 561 malignant patients were analyzed for their cellular immunity by flow cytometry. The average percentages of CD4^sup +^CD25^sup +high^/lymphocyte were 1.30 ± 1.19 % (... ± SD) in normal adults and 3.274 ± 4.835 % in malignant patients (p < 0.001). The ratio of CD4^sup +^CD25^sup +high^ to CD4^sup +^ was 3.58 ± 3.19 % in normal adults and 6.01 ± 5.89 % to 13.50 ± 23.60 % in different kinds of malignancies (p < 0.001). Of normal adults, 15.52 % had >3 % Treg and 12.07 % had 3 %) and NK (