The circulating pool of functionally competent NK and CD8+ cells predicts the outcome of anti-PD1 treatment in advanced NSCLC.

Introduction: A prospective investigation of the circulating immune profile in NSCLC patients receiving nivolumab was performed to identify potentially predictive parameters.

Methods: Flow Cytometry of peripheral blood (PB) CD3+, CD8+, CD4+, NK, Treg and MDSCs was prospectively performed in 31 consecutive advanced NSCLC patients at baseline (T0) and after 2 (T1) and 4 (T2) cycles of bi-weekly nivolumab. Functional molecules (PD-1, CD3ζ, Granzyme B, Perforin), cell proliferation (Ki67) and NK receptors (NKG2 A, NKG2D, NKp30) were also explored.

Clinical and hematologic parameters address the outcomes of non-small-cell lung cancer patients treated with nivolumab.

Aim: This prospective study aimed to envisage the putative prognostic significance of clinical and hematologic parameters in advanced non-small-cell lung cancer patients treated with nivolumab.

Materials & Methods: Correlations of several parameters with disease control and survival outcomes were provided.

Results: A total of 54 patients were included.

Low PD-1 Expression in Cytotoxic CD8 Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Confers an Immune-Privileged Tissue Microenvironment in NSCLC with a Prognostic and Predictive Value.

The success of immune checkpoint inhibitors strengthens the notion that tumor growth and regression are immune regulated. To determine whether distinct tissue immune microenvironments differentially affect clinical outcome in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), an extended analysis of PD-L1 and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) was performed. Samples from resected adenocarcinoma (ADC 42), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC 58), and 26 advanced diseases (13 ADC and 13 SCC) treated with nivolumab were analyzed.