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BackgroundInnate lymphoid cells (ILC) are part of a heterogeneous family of haematopoietic effector cells which lack re-arranged antigen-specific receptors. They promote host defense and contribute to tissue and metabolic homeostasis, wound healing and immune surveillance. Their role in human cancer immunity is less defined, and therefore we aimed to identify the frequency and phenotype of distinct ILC groups in various types of cancer.MethodsTissue samples and peripheral blood were collected from patients undergoing surgical resection of gastrointestinal and breast tumours. Single cell suspension of tumour tissue was immediately obtained following surgery using tumour dissociation.ResultsWe observed significantly higher frequencies of ILC2 (p value: 0.04) in malignant breast cancer tissue and significantly higher frequencies of group 1 ILC (p value: 0.001) in malignant gastrointestinal tumours. Tumour infiltrating ILC were found to show an activated phenotype with higher expression of MHC-II, KLRG1, early activation marker CD69 and CD44.ConclusionsActivated innate lymphoid cells infiltrate tumours dependent on tumour type and location.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12885-018-4262-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Abstract. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a critical cellular process in cancer metastasis, during which epithelial polarized cells become motile mesenchymal cells. Since transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) is a potent inducer of EMT, blocking of TGF-β/Smad signaling has become a promising cancer therapy. Nobiletin, a polymethoxy flavonoid from Citrus depressa, has been shown to be valuable for cancer treatment, yet the mechanism remains unclear. In the present study, lung adenocarcinoma A549 and H1299 cells were used to evaluate the effect of nobiletin on EMT induced by TGF-β1. Nobiletin successfully inhibited TGF-β1-induced EMT, migration, invasion and adhesion in vitro, accompanied by attenuation of MMP-2, MMP-9, p-Src, p-FAK, p-paxillin, Snail, Slug, Twist and ZEB1 expression. Nobiletin inhibited the transcriptional activity of Smads without changing the phosphorylation status or translocation of Smads induced by TGF-β1. Moreover, Smad3 is requisite in TGF-β1-stimulated EMT. Smad3 overexpression meaningfully impaired the ability of nobiletin to reverse TGF-β1-induced EMT. In vivo, nobiletin prohibited the growth of metastatic nodules in the lungs of nude mice. Moreover, nobiletin inhibited tumor growth and reversed EMT in mice bearing A549-Luc xenografts, as revealed by IVIS imaging and immunohistochemical analysis. Collectively, the data suggest that nobiletin prevents EMT by inactivating TGF-β1/Smad3 signaling.

Polygenic risk scores (PRS) have the potential to identify individuals at risk of diseases, optimizing treatment, and predicting survival outcomes. Here, we construct and validate a genome-wide association study (GWAS) derived PRS for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), using a multi-center study of six populations (6 059 NPC cases and 7 582 controls), and evaluate its utility in a nested case-control study. We show that the PRS enables effective identification of NPC high-risk individuals (AUC = 0.65) and improves the risk prediction with the PRS incremental deciles in each population (Ptrend ranging from 2.79 × 10−7 to 4.79 × 10−44). By incorporating the PRS into EBV-serology-based NPC screening, the test’s positive predictive value (PPV) is increased from an average of 4.84% to 8.38% and 11.91% in the top 10% and 5% PRS, respectively. In summary, the GWAS-derived PRS, together with the EBV test, significantly improves NPC risk stratification and informs personalized screening.