Integral characteristic of the immune system state predicts breast cancer outcome

Abstract

Summary. The immune system dramatically contributes to the pathogenesis of cancer. An integral estimation of immune system state is considered to be perspective as a prognostic criterion for cancer. We hypothesize that the integral characteristic, uniting numerous parameters of immune response to tumor and presenting the state of the immune system of a cancer patient, may be of prognostic significance. The aim of this work was to verify this hypothesis. Materials and Methods: We have evaluated 17 parameters cha­racterizing key innate and adaptive arms of immune system in 146 patients with primary diagnosed local breast cancer (BC) before cancer treatment. Using the original integrative approach of NovoSpark Corporation (Canada), we have presented the state of the immune system by a single visual image for each patient. Results: We classified all BC patients in two groups: with favorable and unfavorable immune system states according to our previous data demonstrating dramatic differences of the visual images of immune system states in patients with good or poor disease outcomes. Then, we have examined the relationship between integral characteristic of the immune system state and the clinical outcome. The 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) of BC patients with favorable immune system state was more than 96.0% vs 65.4% in patients with unfavorable status (p = 0.00006). Univariate Cox proportional hazards regression analysis showed that the integral characteristic of immune system state assessed prior to cancer treatment as unfavorable, was predictive of the poorer DFS (HR = 15.70 [2.15–114.90], p = 0.0007). Conclusion: The integral characteristic of the immune system state is a significant prognostic factor in BC patients. The BC patients with favorable integral immune system state can be considered as a target group for immunotherapeutic approach.

The immune system contributes to the effectiveness of vaccine therapy in patients with metastatic melanoma

“…This is consistent with our results when we used the method of visualizing the immune system state as an integrated unite, allowing reflection of systemic relationships that determine a single strategy for the response of the immune system. This approach showed differences in the immune system state in cancer patients with different risks of progression and substantiated the feasibility of using the integral characteristic of the immune system as a prognostic criterion [7,14,28]. The method of visualization of the immune system state in patients with melanoma showed differences depending on the response to vaccine therapy (Fig.…”

Immune-phenotyping and transcriptomic profiling of blood monocytes from patients with breast cancer under neoadjuvant chemotherapy

“…В последнее десятилетие вопрос о вовлечении клеток иммунной системы в реализацию терапевтических эффектов цитостатического лечения активно обсужда- [12,15]. Изучение функционального профиля моноцитов при РМЖ в условиях химиотерапии представляется актуальным для клинической онкологии [12,16].…”

Coordinated regulation of immune contexture: crosstalk between STAT3 and immune cells during breast cancer progression

“…Meanwhile, the immune system has a key role in the standard treatment response and long-term survival of breast cancer patients [ 6 ]. Recent insights indicate that breast cancer outcomes are determined by the type of elicited immune responses [ 26 – 28 ]. Of note, a lot of studies have revealed that STAT3 cascade was associated with breast cancer immune responses [ 29 , 30 ], which can potentiate signaling in TME immune cells and tumor cells.…”