. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Nov 16.

Published in final edited form as: Gynecol Oncol. 2016 Oct 15;143(3):674–683. doi: 10.1016/j.ygyno.2016.10.005

Table 4.

Immune cells and their relationship to obesity and EOC.

Immune cell	Subpopulations	Effects on ovarian cancer	Effects of cytokines/signaling molecules
Dendritic cell	Plasmacytoid and myeloid (classified according to their lineage)	EOC cells secrete IL-10, which promotes differentiation of dendritic cells to a subtype with less effective T-cell activation properties Suppress effector function of T cells by engagement of PD-L1	Recruited to tumor microenvironment by tumor stroma-derived factor 1 (SDF-1)
Macrophage *Monocytes recruited to tumor sites by MCP-1 where they mature into macrophages	M1 “classically activated” TAM	Suppress cancer progression, cytotoxic to tumor cells Release ROS, nitrogen intermediates, inflammatory cytokines (IL1b, IL6, IL12, IL23, TNF)	Induced by IFNγ
	M2 “alternatively activated” TAM	Promote tumor growth, angiogenesis, metastasis Suppress immune responses Tissue repair	Induced by TGF-β, IL-4, IL-10, IL-13 CSF-1 considered to induce differentiation to the M2 phenotype Produces CCL22, recruiting T-reg cells to the tumor site
NK cell	CD16⁺ CD56^dim – peripheral location CD16⁻ CD56^bright – primarily located in lymphoid tissue	Higher NK activity in peripheral blood associated with higher PFS Increased NK cells in peritoneal/pleural fluids associated with poor prognosis	MUC16 (protein source of CA-125) inhibits activity of NK cells
B cells		Stimulate angiogenesis in tumors [78] Higher tumor infiltration with B cells associated with poor outcomes
T cells	CD4+	Helper T cells that produce IL-17 may have a role in tumor eradication	Function suppressed by interaction with PD-L1
	CD8+	Presence of TILs positively associated with survival in large meta-analysis Higher number of CD8 T cells associated with improved survival (n = 117, median survival 55 vs. 26 months)	Function suppressed by interaction with PD-L1 Cytotoxic activity inhibited by TGF-β
	Treg cells	Associated with poor patient survival Produce IL-10 and TGF-β that suppress T-cell proliferation and inhibit immune responses Decrease cytotoxic activity of CD8+ T cells	Recruited to tumor site by CCL22