Hofer, T.P. ; Nieto, A.E.* ; Käsmann, L.* ; Pelikan, C. ; Taugner, J.* ; Mathur, S. ; Eze, C.* ; Belka, C.* ; Manapov, F.* ; Nößner, E.
Early recovery of leukocyte subsets is associated with favorable progression-free survival in patients with inoperable stage II/III NSCLC after multimodal treatment: A prospective explorative study.
Radiat. Oncol. 20:43 (2025)
BACKGROUND: We explored the dynamic changes of major leukocyte subsets during definitive treatment of patients with inoperable stage II/III NSCLC lung cancer and correlated it to survival to identify subpopulations associated with maximal patient benefit. METHODS: We analyzed peripheral blood of 20 patients, either treated with thoracic radiotherapy (RT), concurrent chemo-radiotherapy (cCRT), or cCRT with additional immune-checkpoint inhibition therapy. Peripheral blood of 20 patients was collected at 9 timepoints before, during, and up to 1 year post treatment and analyzed by multi-color flow cytometry. Statistical analysis was conducted for leukocyte subpopulations, IL-6, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). RESULTS: Increase of absolute lymphocyte counts (ALC) after the end of RT until 6 months thereafter was a predictor of PFS. Baseline lymphocyte counts showed no significant correlation to PFS or OS. Early recovery of absolute counts (AC) at 3 weeks after RT, total CD3 + T-cells, and CD8 + cytotoxic T-cells distinguished those patients with favorable PFS (≥ 12 months) from all other patients. Discriminant analysis identified B-cells, neutrophil-lymphocyte-ratio (NLR), CD4 + T-helper-cells, and NK-cells as predictors of favorable PFS. High variability in IL-6 plasma concentration of consecutive measurements within 6 months after the end of RT correlated negatively with PFS. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that two parameters commonly assessed in clinical routine can be used to predict patient outcome. These are: early increase in CD8 + T-cell lymphocyte count and variability in IL-6 plasma concentration, that are correlated to patients with favorable, respectively, poor outcome after definitive therapy independent of treatment regimen.
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Publication type
Article: Journal article
Document type
Scientific Article
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Keywords
Area Under Curve Analysis ; B-cells ; Cd4 + t-cells ; Cd8 + t-cells ; Eosinophils ; Immune Checkpoint Therapy ; Linear Discriminant Analysis ; Nk-cells ; Neutrophils ; Non-small Cell Lung Cancer ; Overall Survival ; Peripheral Blood Markers ; Progression-free Survival; Plasma Il-6; Lung-cancer; Interleukin-6; Lymphopenia; Injury
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Language
english
Publication Year
2025
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0
HGF-reported in Year
2025
ISSN (print) / ISBN
1748-717X
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1748-717X
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Volume: 20,
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Article Number: 43
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Bmc
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Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9xw, England
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Peer reviewed
POF-Topic(s)
30203 - Molecular Targets and Therapies
Research field(s)
Immune Response and Infection
PSP Element(s)
G-502710-001
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Projekt DEAL
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Erfassungsdatum
2025-05-09