Fig. 6.

MDSC frequencies are higher among hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients compared to age-matched control subjects. Whole blood samples collected from HCC patients (N = 55, mean age = 62.6, range 50–75) and healthy controls (N = 27, mean age 63.2, range 48–71) were tested using the WB MDSC assay. Results for total MDSC (CD11b + CD33+, p = 0.006) and M-MDSC (CD11b + CD33 + CD14 + CD15⁻, p = 0.004) counts (cells/μL) among HCC patients were significantly different from healthy controls, but not for PMN-MDSC (CD11b + CD33 + CD14⁻CD15+, p = 0.3, a). Corresponding data for total MDSC, M-MDSC, and PMN-MDSC displayed as % of CD45+ cells is also shown (b). Using absolute cell counts, twenty of the 55 HCC patients (37%) had total MDSC levels above our normal threshold of 110 cells/μL, while 19 (35%) and 5 (9%) had M-MDSC and PMN-MDSC levels above our normal thresholds of 90 cells/μL and 25 cells/μL, respectively. All p-values were obtained using unpaired t tests