Prognostic significance of T lymphocyte subgroups (CD4 and CD8) in lung cancer patients after neoadjuvant chemotherapy

• Published in: Journal of cardiothoracic surgery 2024-03, Vol.19 (1), p.113-113, Article 113
• Main Authors: Elicora, Aykut, Yaprak Bayrak, Busra, Vural, Cigdem, Sezer, Huseyin Fatih, Uzun Erkal, Semra, Metin, Elif
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adenocarcinoma; Adjuvant treatment; B cells; Cancer; Cancer immunotherapy; Cancer patients; Cancer therapies; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - drug therapy; Care and treatment; CD4 antigen; CD4 + and CD8 + T lymphocytes; CD8 antigen; CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes - pathology; Cell density; Chemotherapy; Foreign bodies; Humans; Immune system; Immunology; Immunotherapy; Inflammation; Life expectancy; Lung cancer; Lung carcinoma; Lung Neoplasms - drug therapy; Lung Neoplasms - pathology; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Medical prognosis; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Metastasis; Molecular modelling; Neoadjuvant chemotherapy; Neoadjuvant Therapy; Normal distribution; Patients; Prognosis; Radiation therapy; Squamous cell carcinoma; Statistical analysis; Subgroups; Surgery; Survival analysis; T cells; Tomography; Tumor Microenvironment; Tumors
• ISSN: 1749-8090; 1749-8090
• DOI: 10.1186/s13019-024-02596-z

The basis for current and future lung cancer immunotherapy depends on our knowledge of molecular mechanisms of interactions between tumor and immune system cells. Interactions that occur between different intratumoral populations of the same cells are important. In our study, we aimed to evaluate relationship between the clinical and prognostic features and T lymphocyte subgroups of patients with lung tumors after neoadjuvant treatment. A total of 72 patients were included in our study, including study group, 39 of whom received neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Clinical/radiological/pathological findings of patients and CD4/CD8 staining rates in peritumoral/intratumoral areas were recorded. Our study revealed significantly lower intratumoral CD4 + T cell density and lower intratumoral CD4/CD8 ratio in primary tumor after neoadjuvant therapy (respectively, 0.012 and 0.016). Considering tumor types, when control-study groups were compared, inflammation was statistically significant only in adenocarcinoma subtype; intratumoral CD4/CD8 ratio was statistically significant only in squamous-cell carcinoma subtype (respectively, p = 0.0008 and p = 0.0139). When CD4 + T lymphocytes and CD8 + T lymphocytes and CD4/CD8 ratio were compared between control and study groups in low-stage patients according to clinical stages, only intratumoral CD4 + T lymphocyte values and intratumoral CD4/CD8 ratio were significant (respectively, p = 0.0291 ve p = 0.0154). All cell types of innate and adaptive intratumoral immunity can affect lung cancer tissues simultaneously, and these interactions have a very complex structure. Understanding the tumor microenvironment and the different roles of associated cancer immune cells may lead to the discovery of new targets for immunological therapies and increased survival times in lung cancer.