Abstract
BackgroundTreatment 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.MethodsWe 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.ResultsNSCLC 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).ConclusionsAbnormal T cell levels can be used as an independent predictive biomarker for noninvasive early screening in NSCLC occurrence and progression.
Highlights
Treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has greatly improved in recent years
Comparison of immune parameters in NSCLC versus healthy individuals To explore the predictive role of immune cells in untreated NSCLC patients, a total of 487 Chinese adults (305 lung cancer patients and 132 healthy controls) were enrolled in this study
We did not analyze inflammatory cells due to a lack of these data for controls.The levels of lymphocyte subsets were significantly associated with gender and age in healthy controls and cancer patients, we carefully avoided age- and sex-related biases
Summary
Treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has greatly improved in recent years. The aim of this study was to explore the predictive value of peripheral blood immune cells in untreated NSCLC patients. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related disease incidence and mortality worldwide (11.6% and 18.4% of the total cases, respectively) [1, 2]. NSCLC accounts for approximately 80–85% of lung cancers with a 5-year survival rate of less than 15% for advanced cancer [3, 4]. The 5-year survival ranges from 50 to 80% for early stage NSCLC treated with surgical resection. The diagnosis of early-stage NSCLC occurs in less than 20% of cases [5]. It is important to identify markers to predict the advanced cancer stage of patients with lung cancer upon noninvasive method
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