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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.

Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1559211

This article is part of the Research Topic Microbiota-Immunity Dynamics in Cancer: Mechanisms and Implications for Treatment Strategies View all articles

Clinical characteristics and risk factors of late-stage lung adenocarcinoma patients with bacterial pulmonary infection and its relationship with cellular immune function

Provisionally accepted
Kangli Yang Kangli Yang 1Haiting Wei Haiting Wei 2,3Weiwei Zhu Weiwei Zhu 4Yapeng Xu Yapeng Xu 1Shuaifeng Wang Shuaifeng Wang 3Feifei Fan Feifei Fan 1Kai Zhang Kai Zhang 1Qing Yuan Qing Yuan 1Hongmin Wang Hongmin Wang 1*
  • 1 Department of Respiratory Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China
  • 2 College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China
  • 3 Gene Hospital of Henan Province, Center for Precision Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou city, China
  • 4 Department of Infectious Diseases, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China

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

    Background: To research the clinical characteristics, risk factors, the correlation between bacterial pulmonary infection and immune function of advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients complicated with bacterial pulmonary infection.Methods: 334 stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ lung adenocarcinoma patients admitted to the first affiliated hospital of Zhengzhou University from January 2020 to March 2023 were selected and divided into an infection group (n = 240) and a control group (n= 72) according to whether complicated with bacterial pulmonary infection. The clinical characteristics were analyzed. The pulmonary microbiota and human T lymphocyte subsets (CD3+, CD4+, CD8+) were detected. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to explore the risk factors for pulmonary bacterial infection in advanced lung adenocarcinoma patients.Results: Among 334 patients, 264 cases were complicated with pulmonary bacterial infection, and 70 cases had no pulmonary bacterial infection. In total, 544 pathogenic bacteria were isolated from the patients. Of these, 170 strains (31.25%) were Gram-negative bacilli, 162 strains (29.78%) were Gram-positive cocci, 27 strains (4.96%) Gram-positive bacilli. There were statistically significant differences in age, smoking, combined diseases, TNM staging, CD3+ T cell percentage, and CD4+ T cell percentage between the two groups (P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed smoking, bronchiectasis, and diabetes were independent risk factors leading to late-stage lung adenocarcinoma patients with bacterial pulmonary infection (P < 0.05). In those patients on immune checkpoint inhibitors, the lung Gram-positive group has a higher number of CD4+ T cells and CD4+/CD8+ T cell ratio than the Gram-negative group (P < 0.05).Conclusion: Smoking, bronchiectasis, and diabetes are risk factors for lung bacterial infection in patients with advanced lung adenocarcinoma. The effect of immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment on T cells is more pronounced in Gram positive bacteria.

    Keywords: Lung Adenocarcinoma, bacterial pulmonary infection, Immune function, microbial infection, immune checkpoint inhibitors

    Received: 12 Jan 2025; Accepted: 28 Mar 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Wei, Zhu, Xu, Wang, Fan, Zhang, Yuan and Wang. 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: Hongmin Wang, Department of Respiratory Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 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.

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