Elevated Th22 as well as Th17 cells associated with therapeutic outcome and clinical stage are potential targets in patients with multiple myeloma

T helper (Th) cell imbalance plays important roles in tumor development and their effects in Multiple myeloma (MM) remain unclear. In the present study, we investigated the levels and clinical significance of Th22, Th17 and Th1 cells in patients with MM. Th subsets were examined by flow cytometry. Plasma IL-22, IL-17A and IFN-γ concentrations were measured by ELISA. AHR and RORC mRNA expression was examined by RT-PCR. Here, we found that the frequency of Th22 cells was significantly elevated in peripheral blood (PB) and bone marrow (BM) of newly-diagnosed MM patients, and recovered in complete remission patients after chemotherapy. The circulating Th17 cells accompanied by IL-17A levels were also up-regulated in MM patients and decreased after remission. We also found that there was a significantly positive correlation between Th22 and Th17 cells in MM patients. Moreover, the frequencies of Th22 and Th17 cells were higher in stage III than in stage I+II of MM. Our data demonstrated that Th22 and Th17 cells might be important therapeutic targets in multiple myeloma and could facilitate the effect of antitumor immunotherapy.