Abstract: Objective  To investigate the role of the spleen in the progression of hepatic carcinoma induced by chronic stress.
Methods  The murine H22 subcutaneous hepatoma model was established. Chronic restraint stress(CRS) model was used to explore the role of chronic stress in the progression of hepatic carcinoma. The proportion of CD11b+Ly6C+CCR2+ monocytes in peripheral blood and tumor tissue was detected by flow cytometry, and the role of the spleen in the progression of hepatic carcinoma induced by chronic stress was investigated by splenectomy.
Results  The tumor weight was significantly greater, and the proportion of CD11b+Ly6C+CCR2+ monocytes in peripheral blood were significantly increased in stress group, as compared with control group, suggesting significant differences(P＜0.05). However, the proportion of CD11b+Ly6C+CCR2+ monocytes in tumor tissue of stress group did not change significantly compared with control group(P＞0.05). The tumor weight and the proportion of CD11b+Ly6C+CCR2+ monocytes in peripheral blood in sham operation stress group were significantly higher than those in sham operation group and splenectomy stress group(P＜0.01) while there were no significant differences in the tumor weight and the proportion of CD11b+Ly6C+CCR2+ monocytes in the peripheral blood between sham operation stress group and splenectomy stress group(P＞0.05). The proportion of CD11b+Ly6C+CCR2+ monocytes in tumor tissue in sham operation stress group and splenectomy stress group did not change significantly compared with sham operation group(P＞0.05).
Conclusion  Chronic stress could promote the progression of hepatic carcinoma and inhibit the activity of anti-tumor immunity. Splenectomy could slow down the progression of hepatic carcinoma induced by chronic stress possibly by reducing the proportion of CD11b+Ly6C+CCR2+ monocytes.

Key words: liver neoplasms, spleen, chronic stress