Department of Medical Thoracic Oncology, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou Institute of Medicine (HIM), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, China.
Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
Mol Cancer Ther. 2024 May 2;23(5):733-742. doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-23-0459.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have displayed impressive clinical efficacy in the context of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, most patients do not achieve long-term survival. Minimally invasive collected samples are attracting significant interest as new fields of biomarker study, and metabolomics is one of these growing fields. We concentrated on the augmented value of the metabolomic profile in differentiating long-term survival from short-term survival in patients with NSCLC subjected to ICIs. We prospectively recruited 97 patients with stage IV NSCLC who were treated with anti-PD-1 inhibitor, including patients treated with monoimmunotherapy as second-line treatment (Cohort 1), and patients treated with combination immunotherapy as first-line treatment (Cohort 2). Each cohort was divided into long-term and short-term survival groups. All blood samples were collected before beginning immunotherapy. Serum metabolomic profiling was performed by UHPLC-Q-TOF MS analysis. Pareto-scaled principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least-squares discriminant analysis were performed. In Cohort 1, the mPFS and mOS of long-survival patients are 27.05 and NR months, respectively, and those of short-survival patients are 2.79 and 10.59 months. In Cohort 2, the mPFS and mOS of long-survival patients are 27.35 and NR months, respectively, and those of short-survival patients are 3.77 and 12.17 months. A total of 41 unique metabolites in Cohort 1 and 47 in Cohort 2 were screened. In Cohorts 1 and 2, there are 6 differential metabolites each that are significantly associated with both progression-free survival and overall survival. The AUC values for all groups ranged from 0.73 to 0.95. In cohort 1, the top 3 enriched KEGG pathways, as determined through significant different metabolic pathway analysis, were primary bile acid biosynthesis, African trypanosomiasis, and choline metabolism in cancer. In Cohort 2, the top 3 enriched KEGG pathways were the citrate cycle (TCA cycle), PPAR signaling pathway, and primary bile acid biosynthesis. The primary bile acid synthesis pathway had significant differences in the long-term and short-term survival groups in both Cohorts 1 and 2. Our study suggests that peripheral blood metabolomic analysis is critical for identifying metabolic biomarkers and pathways responsible for the patients with NSCLC treated with ICIs.
免疫检查点抑制剂(ICI)在非小细胞肺癌(NSCLC)的治疗中显示出了令人瞩目的临床疗效。然而,大多数患者无法实现长期生存。微创采集的样本作为生物标志物研究的新领域引起了极大的关注,代谢组学就是其中一个正在发展的领域。我们专注于代谢组学谱在区分接受 ICI 治疗的 NSCLC 患者的长期和短期生存方面的增值作用。我们前瞻性地招募了 97 名接受抗 PD-1 抑制剂治疗的 IV 期 NSCLC 患者,包括接受二线单免疫治疗的患者(队列 1)和接受一线联合免疫治疗的患者(队列 2)。每个队列分为长期和短期生存组。所有血液样本均在开始免疫治疗前采集。采用 UHPLC-Q-TOF MS 分析进行血清代谢组学分析。进行 Pareto 缩放主成分分析(PCA)和正交偏最小二乘判别分析。在队列 1 中,长生存患者的 mPFS 和 mOS 分别为 27.05 和 NR 个月,短生存患者分别为 2.79 和 10.59 个月。在队列 2 中,长生存患者的 mPFS 和 mOS 分别为 27.35 和 NR 个月,短生存患者分别为 3.77 和 12.17 个月。在队列 1 中筛选出 41 种独特的代谢物,在队列 2 中筛选出 47 种独特的代谢物。在队列 1 和队列 2 中,有 6 种差异代谢物与无进展生存期和总生存期均显著相关。所有组别的 AUC 值范围为 0.73 至 0.95。在队列 1 中,通过显著差异代谢途径分析确定的前 3 个富集 KEGG 途径是初级胆汁酸生物合成、非洲锥虫病和癌症中的胆碱代谢。在队列 2 中,前 3 个富集的 KEGG 途径是柠檬酸循环(TCA 循环)、PPAR 信号通路和初级胆汁酸生物合成。在队列 1 和队列 2 的长生存和短生存组中,初级胆汁酸合成途径均有显著差异。我们的研究表明,外周血代谢组学分析对于识别与接受 ICI 治疗的 NSCLC 患者相关的代谢生物标志物和途径至关重要。