Integral characteristic of the immune system state predicts breast cancer outcome

Abstract

We have evaluated 17parameters cha-racterizing key innate and adaptive arms of immune system in 146patients 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. 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). 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.