Dynamic Changes of Immune Cells and their Relationship with Prognosis in Late-Stage Gastric Cancer Patients During PD-1 Inhibitor Immunotherapy
Dynamic Changes of Immune Cells and their Relationship with Prognosis in Late-Stage Gastric Cancer Patients During PD-1 Inhibitor Immunotherapy
Chunqin Tian1, Lichun Cui1 and Xiaoyan Wang2*
ABSTRACT
The study aimed to investigate the dynamic changes in immune cells during the programmed death-1 (PD-1) inhibitor therapy in patients with late-stage gastric cancer (GC) and to analyze the correlation between these changes and patient prognosis. One hundred thirty-nine GC patients receiving PD-1 inhibitor therapy were enrolled. Peripheral blood (PB) and tumor tissues were collected before treatment (TB), during treatment (TM), and after treatment (TA). Multiple-parameter flow cytometry and immunohistochemical analysis were employed to analyze changes in immune cells and biomarkers. Correlations between these changes with treatment response, overall survival (OS), and progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed. T cells at TB, TM, and TA increased sequentially, with remarkably increased counts of helper T (Th), cytotoxic T (Tc), and natural killer (NK) cells at TM to those at TB and TA (P<0.05). Programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) at TM was elevated to that at TB and TA, and CD8 and CD4 at TM and TA were higher than at TB (P<0.05). Multivariate regression analysis (MRA) revealed a positive correlation between the quantity of PD-L1, T, Th, and Tc cells with treatment response. The count of T cells was positively linked with OS, and those of programmed PD-L1 and T cells were positively associated with PFS (P<0.05). In patients with late-stage GC undergoing PD-1 inhibitor therapy, the quantities of T, Th, and Tc cells as well as PD-L1 levels were conductive to treatment response and prognosis, providing new biological markers for personalized treatment.
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