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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1437193
This article is part of the Research Topic Application of Multi-omics Analysis in Thoracic Cancer Immunotherapy View all 13 articles

Peripheral NK Cell Count Predicts Response and Prognosis in Breast Cancer Patients Underwent Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy

Provisionally accepted
Weidong Wei Weidong Wei 1*Chao Zhang Chao Zhang 1Fengjia Wu Fengjia Wu 1Lu Xiuqing Lu Xiuqing 1Sifen Wang Sifen Wang 1Miaoqing Wu Miaoqing Wu 1Nian Chen Nian Chen 2Shanji Fan Shanji Fan 2
  • 1 Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC), Guangzhou, China
  • 2 Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hengyang, Hunan Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The count of lymphocyte subsets in blood can reflect the immune status of the body which is closely related to the tumor immune microenvironment and the efficacy of NAT. This study aims to explore the relationship between peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets and the efficacy and prognosis of NAT in breast cancer.We retrospectively analyzed clinicopathological information and peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulation counts of patients receiving NAT from January 2015 to November 2021 at Sun Yat -sen University Cancer Center.Kaplan-Meier curves were used to estimate the survival probability. The independent predictors of NAT response and survival prognosis were respectively analyzed by multivariate logistic regression and Cox regression, and nomograms were constructed accordingly. The prediction efficiency of three nomograms was validated separately in the training cohort and the testing cohort.Results: 230 patients were included in the study, consisting of 161 in the training cohort and 69 in the testing cohort.After a median follow-up of 1238 days, patients with higher NK cell value showed higher pCR rates and higher OS and RFS after NAT (all P < 0.001). Multivariate analyses suggested NK cell count was an independent predictor of NAT response, OS and RFS. We then built nomograms accordingly and validated the prediction performance in the testing cohort (C index for NAT response: 0.786; for OS: 0.877, for RFS: 0.794).Peripheral blood NK cell count is a potential predictive marker for BC patients receiving NAT. Nomograms based on it might help predict NAT response and prognosis in BC.

    Keywords: Peripheral NK cell count, breast cancer, Neoadjuvant chemotherapy, Nomograms, Survival

    Received: 23 May 2024; Accepted: 11 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wei, Zhang, Wu, Xiuqing, Wang, Wu, Chen and Fan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Weidong Wei, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center (SYSUCC), Guangzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.