Circulating activated immune cells as a potential blood biomarkers of non-small cell lung cancer occurrence and progression

Abstract

Background Treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has greatly improved in recent years. However, noninvasive early screening for carcinogenesis and progression unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the predictive value of peripheral blood immune cells in untreated NSCLC patients. Methods We retrospectively enrolled 305 untreated NSCLC patients and 132 healthy participants from February 2016 to August 2019 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital. Immune cell levels were determined by flow cytometry and routine blood tests. Results NSCLC patients had lower levels of T lymphocytes, NK cells, CD8+ T cells, naïve CD4+/CD4+, naïve CD4+ T cells and higher levels of CD4+ T cells, memory CD4+/CD4+ T cells, memory CD4+ T cells, CD4+CD28+/CD4+ T cells, CD4+CD28+ T cells, CD8+CD28+/CD8+ T cells, CD8+HLA-DR+/CD8+ T cells, CD8+HLA-DR+ T cells T cells, CD8+CD38+/CD8+ T cells, CD8+CD38+ T cells and CD4+/CD8+ T cells than those in controls. The percentages of specific lymphocyte subtypes were significantly different in cancer patients versus healthy individuals. For instance, cancer patients had lower levels of B cells, CD4+ T cells, naïve CD4+/CD4+ T cells, naïve CD4+ T cells, CD4+CD28+ T cells, CD8+CD28+ T cells and higher levels of NK cells, white blood cells (WBC), monocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, monocytes to lymphocyte ratio (MLR), neutrophils to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), eosinophil to lymphocyte ratio (ELR), basophil to lymphocyte ratio (BLR), and blood platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR). Conclusions Abnormal T cell levels can be used as an independent predictive biomarker for noninvasive early screening in NSCLC occurrence and progression.

A novel nomogram to predict lymph node metastasis in cT1 non-small-cell lung cancer based on PET/CT and peripheral blood cell parameters

“…Lv and colleagues compared the NLR between node-positive and node-negative patients but no difference was found [ 26 ]. Nevertheless, in the present study, we found NLR and PLR were both significantly higher in pN+ patients, consistent with the results of Chen and Wang [ 18 , 19 ]. This may be mainly due to the higher proportion of N2 stage cases among patients presented with lymph nodes metastasis in our cohort.…”

“…Elevated NLR and PLR usually indicate higher invasion of the tumor. A significant difference was seen in the two parameters between patients with different N stages [ 18 , 19 ].…”

Prognostic and predictive significance of circulating biomarkers in patients with advanced upper gastrointestinal cancer undergoing systemic chemotherapy

“…Thus, we speculate that combined parameters based on lymphocytes may be crucial for achieving a better response to cancer therapy. The absolute neutrophil count has been positively associated with advanced cancer stage in some studies ( 22 , 23 ), consistent with our results. Neutrophils are commonly represented as a reflection of tumor burden because of their contribution to tumor-related inflammation.…”

An immune risk score predicts progression-free survival of melanoma patients in South China receiving anti-PD-1 inhibitor therapy—a retrospective cohort study examining 66 circulating immune cell subsets

“…A series of recent studies identified multiple immune cell subsets captured in peripheral blood instead of the TME that supports systemic immune responses in immunotherapy monitoring for different tumor types. For example, CD8 + CD28 + T cells were reported as an independent predictive biomarker for non-invasive early screening in NSCLC occurrence and progression ( 29 ). When compared with healthy volunteers, a decrease in the CD3 + TCRγδ + lymphocyte subset was observed in multiple myeloma patients ( 30 ).…”