Increased frequencies of circulating and tumor-resident Vδ1 + T cells in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.

Gamma-delta (gamma delta) T cells contribute to the innate immune response against cancer. In samples of 20 patients upon DLBCL diagnosis, we found that V delta 1(+) T cells were the major gamma delta T cell subset in tumors and PBMCs of patients, while V delta 2 T cells were preponderant in PBMCs of healthy subjects. Interestingly, the germinal center (GC) subtype was associated with an increase in V delta 1(+) T cells in tumors, whereas the non-GC subtype was associated with a lower frequency of gamma delta T cells. While circulating V delta 1(+) T cells of patients or HSs mostly exhibited a naive phenotype, the majority of tumor V delta 1(+) T cells showed a central memory phenotype. Resident or circulating cd T cells from patients were not functionally impaired since they produced high levels of IFN-gamma. Collectively, our findings are in favor of gamma delta T cell activation in tumors and open new perspectives for their modulation in DLBCL immunotherapy.