The impact of circulating regulatory T cells number and their subpopulations on risk of lymph node metastasis

Background Regulatory T cells (Tregs) suppress the induction of immune response to cancer cells. An increased number of Tregs have been observed in many solid tumors. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether the number and percentage of circulating Tregs and their subpopulations differ in patients with gastric cancer (GC) and normal controls (NC). The relationship between Tregs subpopulations and clinical factors was analyzed.