Correlation analysis between peripheral blood dendritic cell subsets and PD-1 in patients with peritoneal adenocarcinoma

Abstract The aim of this study was to explore the association between differential percentages of dendritic cell (DC) subsets in peripheral blood and malignancy (grade and lymph node metastasis) of peritoneal adenocarcinoma patients and the frequencies of dendritic cell subsets in the normal controls. The peripheral blood of 30 patients with peritoneal adenocarcinoma and 12 healthy controls were collected for multicolor flow cytometry analysis. Peritoneal adenocarcinoma patients were grouped according to the malignant degree (grade and lymph node metastasis). Percentages of myeloid DCs (mDCs) and its subsets MDC1 and MDC2 in DCs were lower in peripheral blood of patients with peritoneal adenocarcinoma than in normal controls. The percentages of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) and CD16+mDCs in DCs were higher than in normal controls. Compared with poor differentiation grade, patients with well/moderate differentiation grade had an increased percentage of CD16+mDCs. Contrary to CD16+mDCs, the percentage of MDC1 was lower in the well/moderate differentiation grade group. In patients with no lymph node metastasis, pDCs and CD16+mDCs levels were higher compared with patients with lymph node metastasis. mDCs and MDC1 levels had opposite results. pDCs were positively correlated with CD16+mDCs in peripheral blood of peritoneal patients, as was mDCs and MDC1. CD16+mDCs were negatively correlated with MDC1. The percentages of pDCs and CD16+mDCs in DCs were positively correlated with CD3+CD8+T cells, and pDCs also positively correlated with CD8+PD-1+T cells. Our results revealed that DCs subsets correlated with peritoneal adenocarcinoma malignancy. Dendritic cells play an independent role in the immune function of peritoneal adenocarcinoma.

Therapeutic effect of PD-1 monoclonal antibody combined with cisplatin or gemcitabine chemotherapy in a mouse xenograft model with KRAS mutant non-small cell lung cancer A549 cells / 中国肿瘤生物治疗杂志

@#[摘 要] 目的：探讨程序性死亡受体-1（PD-1）单抗联合顺铂或吉西他滨在KRAS基因突变非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）A549细胞移植瘤小鼠模型治疗中的作用。方法：构建免疫系统-肿瘤双人源化A549细胞小鼠移植瘤模型，将60只小鼠按随机数字表法分成6组（10只/组），分别为对照组（200 μL/kg PBS）、PD-1单抗组（20 mg/kg PD-1单抗）、顺铂组（3 mg/kg顺铂）、PD-1单抗+顺铂组（20 mg/kg PD-1单抗+3 mg/kg顺铂）、吉西他滨组（30 mg/kg吉西他滨）和PD-1单抗+吉西他滨组（20 mg/kg PD-1单抗+30 mg/kg吉西他滨）。TUNEL和DAPI双染色法检测移植瘤组织中细胞凋亡水平，测量移植瘤体积和质量并计算肿瘤生长抑制率，免疫组化法检测移植瘤微血管密度（MVD）。结果：成功构建免疫系统-肿瘤双人源化NSCLC A549细胞小鼠移植瘤模型，PD-1单抗+顺铂组移植瘤的细胞凋亡率、肿瘤生长抑制率均最高，移植瘤体积、质量和MVD均最小，与其他5组小鼠比较差异均有统计学意义（均P<0.05）。结论：顺铂与PD-1单抗具有协同活性，而吉西他滨拮抗PD-1单抗的治疗作用。提示PD-1单抗联合顺铂对KRAS突变NSCLC A549细胞移植瘤小鼠的疗效更好。

Relationship Between Peripheral Blood T Lymphocyte Subsets and Prognosis of Patients with Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Treated with Camrelizumab / 肿瘤防治研究

Objective To explore the relationship between peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets and prognosis of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who received treatment with camrelizumab. Methods We retrospectively collected data from 88 patients with advanced NSCLC who underwent camrelizumab treatment. Peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets were collected from patients before and two months after treatment. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analysis were employed to investigate the relationship between peripheral blood T lymphocyte subsets and PFS and OS. Results Compared with non-responder group, the baseline peripheral blood CD4+/CD8+ ratio was higher (P=0.038), while the CD8+T lymphocyte percentage was lower (P=0.036) in the responder group. Kaplan-Meier curves showed that a high baseline CD4+/CD8+ ratio was associated with long PFS and OS (P=0.001, P=0.023). Multivariate Cox analysis revealed that the baseline CD4+/CD8+ ratio was a significant predictor for PFS and OS. Additionally, a high post-treatment CD4+/CD8+ ratio and high CD4+T lymphocyte percentage were associated with long PFS (P=0.005, P=0.015), whereas a low post-treatment CD8+T lymphocyte percentage was associated with long PFS and OS (P=0.001, P=0.016). Conclusion The peripheral blood CD4+/CD8+ ratio can serve as a predictive factor for survival of patients with NSCLC treated with camrelizumab.

Combination of AAV-delivered tumor suppressor PTEN with anti-PD-1 loaded depot gel for enhanced antitumor immunity

Recent clinical studies have shown that mutation of phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome 10 (PTEN) gene in cancer cells may be associated with immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) and poor response to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy. Therefore, efficiently restoring PTEN gene expression in cancer cells is critical to improving the responding rate to ICB therapy. Here, we screened an adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid for efficient PTEN gene delivery into B16F10 tumor cells. We demonstrated that intratumorally injected AAV6-PTEN successfully restored the tumor cell PTEN gene expression and effectively inhibited tumor progression by inducing tumor cell immunogenic cell death (ICD) and increasing immune cell infiltration. Moreover, we developed an anti-PD-1 loaded phospholipid-based phase separation gel (PPSG), which formed an in situ depot and sustainably release anti-PD-1 drugs within 42 days in vivo. In order to effectively inhibit the recurrence of melanoma, we further applied a triple therapy based on AAV6-PTEN, PPSG@anti-PD-1 and CpG, and showed that this triple therapy strategy enhanced the synergistic antitumor immune effect and also induced robust immune memory, which completely rejected tumor recurrence. We anticipate that this triple therapy could be used as a new tumor combination therapy with stronger immune activation capacity and tumor inhibition efficacy.

Programmed cell death protein 1 is a marker for neoadjuvant chemotherapy response in triple-negative breast cancer

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes are detectable in up to 75% of triple-negative breast cancer. The composition of these infiltrates may influence prognosis and is not known regarding regulatory or effector lymphocytes. The objectives of this study were to describe and quantify the composition of the tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes before and after chemotherapy (neoadjuvant chemotherapy) and to evaluate their association with complete pathological response and overall survival. METHODS: This was a retrospective observational study. Clinical and pathological data from 38 triple-negative breast cancer patients treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy at the University Hospital (HUCFF/UFRJ), between November 2004 and November 2018, were analyzed. The Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes) have been identified on hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections according to the guidelines of the "International tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes Working Group." Immunohistochemistry studies were performed to identify T-cell subsets (i.e., CD3, CD4, CD8, and FOXP3) and T-cell exhaustion (i.e., programmed cell death protein 1). RESULTS: Statistically significant changes in stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte categories were observed before and post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy, with 32% of intermediate cases becoming high. The correlation between pre-neoadjuvant chemotherapy stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and pathological response, pre-neoadjuvant chemotherapy and post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy, and stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes and overall survival was not statistically significant. However, we noticed an increase of cells that favor the antitumor activity (i.e., CD3, CD8, and CD8/FOXP3 ratio) and decreased levels of cells inhibiting tumor activities (i.e., FOXP3 and programmed cell death protein 1) post-neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Importantly, programmed cell death protein 1 expression pre-neoadjuvant chemotherapy showed an association with pathological response. CONCLUSION: In this study, we observed that chemotherapy significantly increases stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, CD8 T cells, as well as CD8/FoxP3 ratio. Most importantly, programmed cell death protein 1 expression before neoadjuvant chemotherapy positively correlates with pathological response suggesting the use of programmed cell death protein 1 as a prognostic marker before neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Construction and Validation of A Predictive Model Including TCM Pathogenic Syndrome for Short-term Efficacy of PD-1 Inhibitors in Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer / 肿瘤防治研究

Objective To evaluate predictive factors affecting the short-term efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and to construct a prediction model. Methods From October 2019 to November 2021, 221 patients with advanced NSCLC who met the inclusion criteria and were treated with PD-1 inhibitors were prospectively enrolled. Patients who were enrolled before May 1st, 2021 were included inthe modeling group (n=149), whereas those who enrolled thereafter were included in the validation group (n=72). The general clinical data of patients, information of the four TCM diagnoses were collected, and TCM syndrome elements were identified. R software version 4.0.4 was used in constructing a nomogram clinical prediction model of objective response rate. The predictive ability and discrimination of the model were evaluated and externally validated by using a validation group. Results After two to four cycles of PD-1 inhibitor therapy in 221 patients, the overall objective response rate was 44.80%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis of the modeling group showed that the TPS score (OR=0.261, P=0.001), number of treatment lines (OR=3.749, P=0.002), treatment mode (OR=2.796, P=0.019), qi deficiency disease syndrome elements (OR=2.296, P=0.043), and syndrome elements of yin deficiency disease (OR=3.228, P=0.005) were the independent predictors of the short-term efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors. Based on the above five independent predictors, a nomogram prediction model for the short-term efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors was constructed. The AUC values of the modeling and validation groups were 0.8317 and 0.7535, respectively. The calibration curves of the two groups showed good agreement between the predicted and true values. The mean absolute errors were 0.053 and 0.039, indicating that the model has good predictive performance. Conclusion The nomogram model constructed on the basis of the syndrome elements of Qi-deficiency disease and Yin-deficiency syndrome of TCM, as well as TPS score, number of treatment lines and treatment mode, is a stable and effective tool for predicting the short-term efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors in advanced non-small cell lung cancer.

Quality evaluation of anti-PD-1/CTLA-4 bispecific antibody / 中国生物制品学杂志

@#Objective Establish quality control methods for critical quality attribute of bispecific antibody against programmed cell death protein 1(PD-1)/cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4(CTLA-4).Methods The biological activity of PD-1 target was determined by reporter gene assay,and the competitive binding activity of CTLA-4 target was determined by flow cytometry;The antibody molecular size variants were controlled by reducing/non-reducing capillary electrophoresis-sodium dodecyl sulfonate(CE-SDS) and size exclusion chromatography-high performance liquid chromatography(SEC-HPLC);Charge heterogeneity was determined by imaging capillary isoelectric focusing electrophoresis(iCIEF);Bispecific anti-PD-1/CTLA-4 antibody was identified by peptide map analysis;Glycosylation was analysed by high performance liquid chromatography(HPLC)Results The concentration for 50% of maximal effect(EC_(50)) of PD-1target was(6.91±0.78) nmol/L,and the relative biological potency to the reference was(103.50±13.08)% with the RSD of 12.64%;The EC_(50) of CTLA-4 target activity was(0.35±0.28) nmol/L,and the relative biological potency was(99.30±9.15)% with the RSD of 8.32%.The percentage of peak area of light chain and heavy chain of reducing CE-SDS was(98.86±0.02)%.The main peak area percentage of non-reducing CE-SDS was(93.07±0.13)%,fragment percentage was(4.44±0.13)%,and polymer percentage was(2.49±0.15)%.The peak area percentage of SEC-HPLC monomer and polymer were(97.20±0.01)% and(2.68±0.01)%,respectively.The area percentage of peak A group,peak B group,peak C group and peak D group were(38.43±0.54)%,(43.26±0.32)%,(11.31±0.14)% and(7.00±0.17)%,respectively.Peptide mapping showed the specific spectrum of the bispecific anti-PD-1/CTLA-4 antibody,which could be adopted for identification test.The highest proportion of glycotype was GOF,with a content of(41.06±0.11)%,There were three types of glycan containing sialic acid,namely G2F+G1F-NANA,G2F-NANA and G2F-2NANA,with the content of(12.44±0.12)%,(12.00±0.05)% and(5.37±0.05)%,respectively.The total content of glycan containing sialic acid was(29.80±0.20)%.Conclusion The critical quality attributes of bispecific anti-PD-1/CTLA-4 antibody were studied and the corresponding quality control methods were established to ensure its safety,effectiveness and quality control,which provides a reference for the quality control methods and strategies of this type of monoclonal antibody products.

CT texture analysis for predicting pseudoprogression in metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma during PD-1 inhibitor therapy / 中华内科杂志

Objective:To evaluate the effectiveness of enhanced CT texture feature analysis in predicting pseudoprogression in patients with metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (mccRCC) undergoing programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) inhibitor therapy.Methods:A cross-sectional study. Data from 32 patients with mccRCC were retrospectively collected who received monotherapy with PD-1 inhibitors after standard treatment failure at Henan Cancer Hospital, from June 2015 to January 2021. Clinical information and enhanced CT images were analyzed to assess target lesion response. The lesions were divided into pseudoprogression and non-pseudoprogression groups. Manual segmentation of target lesions was performed using ITK-Snap software on baseline enhanced CT, and texture analysis was conducted using A.K. software to extract feature parameters. Differences in texture features between the pseudoprogression and non-pseudoprogression groups were analyzed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. A predictive model for pseudoprogression was constructed, and its performance was evaluated using ROC curve analysis.Results:A total of 32 patients with 89 lesions were included in the study. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in seven texture features between the pseudoprogression and non-pseudoprogression groups. These features included“original_ngtdm_Strength”(0.49 vs. -0.61, P=0.006), “wavelet-HLH_glszm_ZonePercentage”(0.67 vs. -0.22, P=0.024),“wavelet-LHL_ngtdm_Strength”(1.20 vs. -0.51, P=0.002), “wavelet-HLL_gldm_LargeDependenceEmphasis”(-0.84 vs. 0.19, P=0.002), “wavelet-HLH_glcm_Id” (-0.30 vs. 0.43, P=0.037),“wavelet- HLH_glrlm_RunPercentage”(0.45 vs. -0.01, P=0.032),“wavelet-LHH_firstorder_Skewness”(0.25 vs. -0.27, P=0.011). Based on these features, a pseudoprogression prediction model was developed with a P-value of 0.000 2 and an odds ratio of 0.045 (95% CI 0.009-0.227). The model exhibited a high predictive performance with an AUC of 0.907 (95% CI 0.817-0.997) according to ROC curve analysis. Conclusions:Enhanced CT texture feature analysis shows promise in predicting lesion pseudoprogression in patients with metastatic ccRCC undergoing PD-1 inhibitor therapy. The developed predictive model based on texture features demonstrates good performance and may assist in evaluating treatment response in these patients.

Efficacy and safety of radiotherapy combined with targeted therapy, immunotherapy and chemotherapy for unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

Objective:To evaluate the efficacy and safety of quadruple therapy involving radiotherapy (RT), lenvatinib, anti-PD-1 antibody and GEMOX (oxaliplatin and gemcitabine) chemotherapy (quadruple therapy) in treatment cohort of patients with unresectable intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC).Methods:The patients with recurrent, metastatic, or unresectable ICC underwent quadruple therapy at Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University between September 2018 and May 2022 were selected. The data about efficacy and safety of quadruple therapy were collected in the hospital electronic medical record system. All patients were followed up regularly to obtain the long-term prognostic data until December 31, 2022. The efficacy, prognosis, and toxicity data were collected and analyzed.Results:A total of 41 patients were included in the analysis. After a median follow-up period of 15 months, disease progression was diagnosed in 36 patients (18 patients died), while 3 patients were lost to follow-up. The causes of death included liver failure induced by intrahepatic tumor progression ( n=6), distant metastases (lungs or brain, n=6), abdominal lymph node metastases ( n=3), cancer cachexia ( n=2), and unknown cause ( n=1). The median progression-free survival (PFS) was 11 months (95% CI: 9.2-12.8), and the median overall survival (OS) was 35 months (95% CI: 17.0-52.0). All patients experienced treatment-related adverse events (AEs) during the study treatment period. Of the 41 patients, 13 patients experienced at least once grade 3 or worse treatment-related AE, but all were manageable with symptomatic treatment. No treatment-related deaths were reported during the follow-up period. Conclusions:Radiotherapy (RT), lenvatinib, anti-PD-1 antibody and GEMOX in the treatment of unresectable ICC shows significant efficacy and good safety, which is worthy of clinical application.

Progress of Research on Programmed Death-1/Programmed Death Ligand-1 Inhibitors for HIV/AIDS with Cancer / 肿瘤防治研究

Immunotherapy has become a common means of cancer treatment. In immunotherapy, PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors have significant efficacy. Cancer and various opportunistic infections are common complications in patients with AIDS. Owing to the special immune situation of these patients, AIDS is regarded as an exclusion standard in most clinical trials for cancer immunotherapy, conferring immunotherapy difficulty in treating patients with AIDS. The popularity of effective antiretroviral drugs has prolonged the lifetime of people with AIDS. Therefore, exploiting the opportunity of using immunotherapy in AIDS with cancer is urgent.

Prospect of Tumor Treatment in the Post-PD-1/PD-L1 Inhibitor Era / 肿瘤防治研究

Immune checkpoint inhibitors restart and maintain cancer-immunity circulation to normalize the anti-tumor immunity. Currently, anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibodies, as new milestone in immunotherapy, have significantly improved the prognosis of patients with various malignant tumors. However, anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibody alone exhibited a low response rate, and the combination of anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibody with traditional therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and targeted therapy have shown great potential. As new immune checkpoint inhibitors or in combination therapy are on the way, tumor immunotherapy is entering the era of post-anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibody. The methodology of combination therapy and biomarker screening remain the focus. This paper reviews the current status of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy and makes a perspective for the future of post-anti-PD-1/PD-L1 antibody era.

Pyogenic granuloma of the gums and lips caused by camrelizumab: case report and literature review / 口腔疾病防治

Objective@# To investigate the clinical manifestations, pathological features, and treatment of oral and maxillofacial pyogenic granulomas induced by camrelizumab. @*Methods@# A case of pyogenic granuloma of the gums and lips caused by camrelizumab was reported along with a literature review. @*Results@# After 4 months of treatment with camrelizumab for liver cancer, the patient developed systemic reactive capillary hyperplasia (RCH), followed by multiple masses on the lower lip and gingiva. After periodontal therapy, the masses on the lower lip and the gingiva were removed, and camrelizumab administration was stopped. The pathological result was gingival pyogenic granuloma/granulomatous hemangioma. No new masses were found in the oral cavity during postoperative follow-up. A review of the literature showed that RCH is the most common adverse drug reaction to camrelizumab but it occurs infrequently in the oral cavity. At present, the etiology of RCH has not been clarified, but the research has shown that camrelizumab may trigger tissue proliferation into hemangiomas by activating vascular endothelial cells, and the combined use of camrelizumab is safer than single use. RCH is self-limiting and most cases resolve spontaneously after discontinuation of the drug. If the mass causes dysfunction, surgical excision is feasible.@*Conclusion @#Camrelizumab can cause oral and maxillofacial reactive capillary hyperplasia complicated by pyogenic granuloma.

Immune escape of hepatic echinococcosis based on the PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway / 临床肝胆病杂志

PD-1 and PD-L1 together constitute the stimulus signaling pathway of adaptive immune response, which has been widely used in the research on the mechanism of tumor immune escape and tumor therapy. At the same time, its signaling pathway has been proved to be closely associated with the immune escape of hepatic echinococcosis. This article reviews the chemical structures of PD-1 and PD-L1, the mechanism of the PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway, and the role of the PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway in immune escape of hepatic echinococcosis, i.e., the PD-1/PD-L1 signaling pathway is involved in immune escape of hepatic echinococcosis under three theories, so as to explore the immune escape of hepatic echinococcosis from a new perspective and provide a basis and ideas for the diagnosis and treatment of hepatic echinococcosis.

Effect of expressing of anti-PD-1 antibody in mouse mammary gland on spleen T cells in transgenic mice / 生物工程学报

This study aims to investigate the effect of anti-PD-1 antibody expressed in mouse mammary gland on the surface antigen protein of spleen T cells, cytokine expression, spleen CD4+ T cell proliferation and proliferation related pathways of transgenic mice at the cellular level. Transgenic mice expressing anti-human PD-1 antibody at 8 weeks of age without pregnancy and 18 weeks of age with lactation were divided into two groups, with transgenic negative mice in each group as the control. Spleen lymphocytes were extracted and the changes of spleen lymphocytes were detected. Compared with transgenic negative mice, the proportion of effector T cells of spleen T cells in the immune system of transgenic mice with anti-PD-1 antibody expressed in breast increased, the proportion of Treg cells decreased, and the IFN-γ, IL-17 and IL-2 expressed in CD4+ T cells increased in varying degrees. Moreover, IL-4, IL-10 and TGF-β in CD4+ T cells did not change, nor did some cell surface protein molecules related to T cell stimulate. There was no significant difference in T cell proliferation between transgenic positive and transgenic negative mice. In transgenic positive mice, the expression of phosphorylated proteins in PI3K/Akt/mTOR and RAS/MEK/ERK pathways were partially up-regulated, but the whole pathway was not completely up-regulated. Therefore, it is feasible to use transgenic mice as host to express monoclonal antibodies related to immune system such as anti-PD-1 antibody.

Exploratory study of the influence of respiratory microbiology on the efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors monotherapy for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer / 中国临床药理学与治疗学

AIM: To investigate the implication of respiratory microbiology on the efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors monotherapy for patients with NSCLC. METHODS: This study was designed as a retrospective study, fifty-eight patients with previously-treated advanced NSCLC who were received PD-1 monotherapy from October 2018 to October 2021 were included. The PD-1 inhibitors were consisted of camrelizumab, sintilimab and pembrolizumab. Additionally, the basic demographic data, therapeutic efficacy data, survival prognosis and adverse reactions during the PD-1 inhibitors treatment were collected and analyzed through the patients' medical records of the department and the electronic medical record system of the hospital. Furthermore, deep induced sputum specimens of the patients before treatment with PD-1 inhibitor were collected. And the respiratory microbiology of 58 samples were detected using 16S rRNA gene sequencing method. The index of respiratory microbiology α diversity was analyzed, and the correlation analysis was performed with the efficacy and prognosis of patients. RESULTS: A total of 58 patients with advanced NSCLC met the study's screening criteria and were evaluable for efficacy and safety profile. Efficacy data suggested that the objective response rate (ORR) and disease control rate (DCR) of the patients who received PD-1 inhibitors was 19.0%(95% CI: 9.9%-31.4%) and 55.2% (95% CI: 41.5%-68.3%). Furthermore, prognostic data obtained from follow-up indicated that the median PFS of the 58 patients with advanced NSCLC was 3.2 months (95% CI: 2.29-4.11) and the median OS was 10.5 months (95% CI: 5.58-15.43). Regarding the exploratory analysis between efficacy and respiratory microbiology, the 58 patients with NSCLC were divided into high α diversity group (group H) and low α diversity group (group L) according to Shannon diversity index of respiratory microecology detection. And the association analysis suggested that the ORR of patients with group H and group L was 23.3% and 17.9%(P c 0.380), respectively. Furthermore, prognostic analysis indicated that the median PFS of patients with group H and group L was 3.8 and 2.8 months, respectively, which was statistically significant (P c 0.034). CONCLUSION: PD-1 inhibitors monotherapy demonstrated preliminary efficacy and prognosis as subsequent line treatment for patients with advanced NSCLC. Patients with higher α -diversity of respiratory microbiology might confer a superior prognosis. And the conclusion should be validated in large sample prospective clinical trials subsequently.

Study on protective effect of Shenqi Fuzheng injection on immune myocarditis injury induced by anti-PD-1 antibody / 中国药理学通报

Aim To investigate the effeot of Shenqi Fuzheng injection on the prevention of immune myocarditis induced by anti-PD-1 antibody by reducing the production of inflammatory factors and the expression of myocardial injury markers. Methods Thirty-two maie PD-1 humanized mice with C57BL/6 genetic background were randomly divided into control group, myocarditis model group, anti-PD-1 antibody group and Shenqi Fuzheng injection group (n = 8). Except the control group, mice in other groups were intraperitoneally injected with myocardial myosin heavy chain peptide (5 mg • kg

Metabolic interventions combined with CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1 blockade for the treatment of tumors: mechanisms and strategies / 医学前沿

Immunotherapies based on immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) have significantly improved patient outcomes and offered new approaches to cancer therapy over the past decade. To date, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) of CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1 represent the main class of immunotherapy. Blockade of CTLA-4 and PD-1/PD-L1 has shown remarkable efficacy in several specific types of cancers, however, a large subset of refractory patients presents poor responsiveness to ICB therapy; and the underlying mechanism remains elusive. Recently, numerous studies have revealed that metabolic reprogramming of tumor cells restrains immune responses by remodeling the tumor microenvironment (TME) with various products of metabolism, and combination therapies involving metabolic inhibitors and ICIs provide new approaches to cancer therapy. Nevertheless, a systematic summary is lacking regarding the manner by which different targetable metabolic pathways regulate immune checkpoints to overcome ICI resistance. Here, we demonstrate the generalized mechanism of targeting cancer metabolism at three crucial immune checkpoints (CTLA-4, PD-1, and PD-L1) to influence ICB therapy and propose potential combined immunotherapeutic strategies co-targeting tumor metabolic pathways and immune checkpoints.

Liver-directed treatment is associated with improved survival and increased response to immune checkpoint blockade in metastatic uveal melanoma: results from a retrospective multicenter trial / 医学前沿

Metastases of uveal melanoma (UM) spread predominantly to the liver. Due to low response rates to systemic therapies, liver-directed therapies (LDT) are commonly used for tumor control. The impact of LDT on the response to systemic treatment is unknown. A total of 182 patients with metastatic UM treated with immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) were included in this analysis. Patients were recruited from prospective skin cancer centers and the German national skin cancer registry (ADOReg) of the German Dermatologic Cooperative Oncology Group (DeCOG). Two cohorts were compared: patients with LDT (cohort A, n = 78) versus those without LDT (cohort B, n = 104). Data were analyzed for response to treatment, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS). The median OS was significantly longer in cohort A than in cohort B (20.1 vs. 13.8 months; P = 0.0016) and a trend towards improved PFS was observed for cohort A (3.0 vs. 2.5 months; P = 0.054). The objective response rate to any ICB (16.7% vs. 3.8%, P = 0.0073) and combined ICB (14.1% vs. 4.5%, P = 0.017) was more favorable in cohort A. Our data suggest that the combination of LDT with ICB may be associated with a survival benefit and higher treatment response to ICB in patients with metastatic UM.

Dihydroartemisinin increased the abundance of Akkermansia muciniphila by YAP1 depression that sensitizes hepatocellular carcinoma to anti-PD-1 immunotherapy / 医学前沿

The effect of anti-programmed cell death 1 (anti-PD-1) immunotherapy is limited in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) expression increased in liver tumor cells in early HCC, and Akkermansia muciniphila abundance decreased in the colon. The response to anti-PD-1 treatment is associated with A. muciniphila abundance in many tumors. However, the interaction between A. muciniphila abundance and YAP1 expression remains unclear in HCC. Here, anti-PD-1 treatment decreased A. muciniphila abundance in the colon, but increased YAP1 expression in the tumor cells by mice with liver tumors in situ. Mechanistically, hepatocyte-specific Yap1 knockout (Yap1LKO) maintained bile acid homeostasis in the liver, resulting in an increased abundance of A. muciniphila in the colon. Yap1 knockout enhanced anti-PD-1 efficacy. Therefore, YAP1 inhibition is a potential target for increasing A. muciniphila abundance to promote anti-PD-1 efficacy in liver tumors. Dihydroartemisinin (DHA), acting as YAP1 inhibitor, increased A. muciniphila abundance to sensitize anti-PD-1 therapy. A. muciniphila by gavage increased the number and activation of CD8+ T cells in liver tumor niches during DHA treatment or combination with anti-PD-1. Our findings suggested that the combination anti-PD-1 with DHA is an effective strategy for liver tumor treatment.

Development and validation of a risk-prediction model for immune-related adverse events in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer receiving PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors / 浙江大学学报（英文版）（B辑：生物医学和生物技术）

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide and is the most common cancer in males. Immune-checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) that target programmed cell death protein-1 (PD-1) or programmed cell death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) have achieved impressive efficacy in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) (Pardoll, 2012; Champiat et al., 2016; Gao et al., 2022). Although ICIs are usually well tolerated, they are often accompanied by immune-related adverse events (irAEs) (Doroshow et al., 2019). Non-specific activation of the immune system produces off-target immune and inflammatory responses that can affect virtually any organ or system (O'Kane et al., 2017; Puzanov et al., 2017). Compared with adverse events caused by chemotherapy, irAEs are often characterized by delayed onset and prolonged duration and can occur in any organ at any stage of treatment, including after cessation of treatment (Puzanov et al., 2017; von Itzstein et al., 2020). They range from rash, pneumonitis, hypothyroidism, enterocolitis, and autoimmune hepatitis to cardiovascular, hematological, renal, neurological, and ophthalmic irAEs (Nishino et al., 2016; Kumar et al., 2017; Song et al., 2020). Hence, we conducted a retrospective study to identify validated factors that could predict the magnitude of the risk of irAEs in patients receiving PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors; our approach was to analyze the correlation between the clinical characteristics of patients at the start of treatment and relevant indicators such as hematological indices and the risk of developing irAEs. Then, we developed an economical, practical, rapid, and simple model to assess the risk of irAEs in patients receiving ICI treatment, as early as possible.