Abstract:Objective To investigate the expression and significance of CD226 and CD96 in natural killer (NK) cells of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Methods Between January 2016 and January 2017, 85 patients with NSCLC in our hospital were selected as the research objects, and 50 normal persons who underwent physical examination in our hospital during the same period were selected as the control group. Flow cytometry was used to detect the expressions of activating receptors CD226, CD96 and inhibitory receptor TIGIT in peripheral blood NK cells. The relationship between CD226, CD96 and clinicopathological features of NSCLC was analyzed. Pearson method was used to analyze the relationship between CD226 and CD96 expression levels. The co-ligand CD155 of CD226 and CD96 in NSCLC and adjacent tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry. The relationship between CD155 and clinicopathological features of NSCLC was also analyzed.Results The positive rates of CD226, CD96 and TIGIT in peripheral blood NK cells of NSCLC patients and healthy persons were respectively (75.32±12.02)% vs. (84.23±4.01)% (P<0.05), (25.31±5.36)% vs. (34.26±10.23)% (P<0.05), (47.36±20.08)% vs. (52.31±18.36)% (P>0.05). Pearson analysis showed that the ratio of CD226+ NK cells was positively correlated with that of CD96+ NK cells (r=0.486, P<0.05). The percentage of CD226+ NK cells in NSCLC patients with high/moderate differentiation was significantly higher than that in patients with low differentiation (P<0.05). The percentage of CD96+ NK cells in patients without lymph node metastasis was significantly higher than that in patients with lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). The total score of CD155 immunohistochemical staining in NSCLC tissues was significantly higher than that in adjacent tissues (P<0.05). The expression of CD155 was not related to the clinicopathological features (P>0.05).Conclusion The expression levels of CD226 and CD96 in NK cells of NSCLC patients were significantly decreased, which may have some influence on the immune escape of tumors. Increasing the expressions of CD226 and CD96 in NK cells may be a potential therapy for NSCLC patients with CD155 positive expression.