Oncobiona Group, Navarrabiomed, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain.
Medical Oncology Department, Hospital Universitario de Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.
Head Neck. 2023 Dec;45(12):3075-3085. doi: 10.1002/hed.27536. Epub 2023 Oct 4.
Identification of predictive biomarkers to Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in head and neck cancer (HNSCC) is an unmet need.
This was a prospective observational study including 25 patients with HNSCC treated with immunotherapy or chemotherapy after a prior platinum-based regimen. Low density neutrophils (LDNs) and serum markers were analyzed.
In the immunotherapy cohort, patients with high LDN levels had a shorter progression free survival (PFS) (1.8 months vs. 10.9 months; *p = 0.034). Also, progressors showed higher percentage of LDNs compared to non-progressors although significance was not reached (mean 20.68% vs. 4.095%, p = 0.0875). These findings were not replicated in patients treated with chemotherapy. High levels of interleukin-7 (IL7) were correlated with a significantly longer overall survival (OS) (13.47 months 3.51 vs. months, *p = 0.013).
High baseline circulating LDNs and low IL7 could identify a subset of patients intrinsically refractory to ICIs as monotherapy in HNSCC.
识别头颈部癌症（HNSCC）中免疫检查点抑制剂（ICIs）的预测生物标志物是未满足的需求。
这是一项前瞻性观察性研究，包括 25 例先前接受过铂类方案治疗后接受免疫治疗或化疗的 HNSCC 患者。分析低密度中性粒细胞（LDN）和血清标志物。
在免疫治疗组中，LDN 水平较高的患者无进展生存期（PFS）较短（1.8 个月 vs. 10.9 个月；*p=0.034）。此外，进展患者的 LDN 百分比高于非进展患者，但未达到统计学意义（平均值 20.68% vs. 4.095%，p=0.0875）。这些发现在接受化疗的患者中没有得到复制。高水平的白细胞介素-7（IL7）与总生存期（OS）显著延长相关（13.47 个月 vs. 3.51 个月，*p=0.013）。
基线时循环 LDNs 水平较高和 IL7 水平较低可识别出 HNSCC 中对 ICI 单药治疗内在耐药的患者亚群。
