The use of peripheral CD3+γδ+Vδ2+ T lymphocyte cells in combination with the ALBI score to predict immunotherapy response in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: a retrospective study

作者：Shuhan Zhang, Luyang Li, Chengli Liu, Meng Pu, Yingbo Ma, Tao Zhang, Jiaqi Chai, Haoming Li, Jun Yang, Meishan Chen, Ling-Hong Kong, Tian Xia · 发表于：Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology · 年份：2024 · DOI：10.1007/s00432-024-05896-y · 被引用次数：2 · 研究领域：Cancer Immunotherapy and Biomarkers、Hepatocellular Carcinoma Treatment and Prognosis、Immune Cell Function and Interaction

Abstract Background Currently, there is a lack of effective indicators for predicting the efficacy of immunotherapy in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to investigate the expression and prognostic value of peripheral T lymphocyte subsets in advanced HCC. Methods Patients with advanced HCC who were treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) from December 2021 to December 2023 were included in the study. Flow cytometry was used to detect lymphocyte subsets before treatment. The patients were divided into disease control (DC) and nondisease control (nDC) groups based on treatment efficacy. Relationships between the clinical characteristics/peripheral T lymphocytes and immunotherapy efficacy were analyzed. The effectiveness of peripheral T lymphocyte subsets in predicting immunotherapy efficacy for patients with advanced HCC was analyzed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results A total of 40 eligible patients were included in this study. Non-DC was significantly associated with higher albumin-bilirubin (ALBI) scores. The percentages of γδ + Vδ2 + PD1 + T cells and γδ + Vδ2 + Tim3 + T cells were greater in the nDC group than in the DC group. Multivariable regression analysis revealed that the ALBI score and T lymphocytes expressing γδ + Vδ2 + PD1 + and γδ + Vδ2 + Tim3 + were founded to be independent influencing factors. The area under the ROC curve (AUC) values for these combinations was 0.944 (95% CI, 0.882 ~ 1.00...