The Effects of Treatment on Peripheral Blood Immune Cell Profile in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC)

Skaiste Tulyte; Dainius Characiejus; Reda Matuzeviciene; Ausra Janiulioniene; Mantas Radzevicius; Tadas Zvirblis; Audrius Sileikis

doi:10.21873/anticanres.15794

The Effects of Treatment on Peripheral Blood Immune Cell Profile in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC)

Anticancer Res. 2022 Jun;42(6):3067-3073. doi: 10.21873/anticanres.15794.

Authors

Skaiste Tulyte^{1

2}, Dainius Characiejus³, Reda Matuzeviciene⁴, Ausra Janiulioniene⁴, Mantas Radzevicius⁴, Tadas Zvirblis^{5

6}, Audrius Sileikis⁷

Affiliations

¹ Hematology, Oncology and Transfusion Medicine Center, Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Klinikos, Vilnius, Lithuania; [email protected].
² Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.
³ Department of Pathology, Forensic Medicine and Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.
⁴ Department of Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.
⁵ Department of Mechanical and Material Engineering, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Vilnius, Lithuania.
⁶ Institute of Biomedical sciences, Department of Human and Medical Genetics, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.
⁷ Clinic of Gastroenterology, Nephrourology and Surgery, Institute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.

PMID: 35641268
DOI: 10.21873/anticanres.15794

Abstract

Background/aim: This study evaluated whether circulating lymphocytes, assessed by flow cytometry, is a prognostic biomarker in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Patients and methods: We studied T cell subsets in blood samples from a cohort of 41 patients diagnosed with PDAC. Patients underwent surgery of the primary site and adjuvant chemotherapy or were treated with 1^st line chemotherapy (mFOLFIRINOX regimen or gemcitabine alone). The changes in T cell subpopulations during treatment were evaluated at the initial diagnosis before surgery, and after 2 and 4 months. Friedman test was used for statistical analysis.

Results: A decline in CD19+ B lymphocytes, natural killer (NK) cells CD3-CD56+CD16+, and T regulatory cells CD4+FOXP3+ during treatment was observed. NKT-like cells CD3+CD56+ and cytotoxic T cells CD3+CD8+ tended to increase after two months and decrease after that.

Conclusion: Statistically significant changes in lymphocyte counts in peripheral blood were detected in patients with PDAC during treatment.

Keywords: B lymphocytes; NK cells; NKT-like cells; PDAC; Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; T cells; T regulatory cells; cytotoxic T cells; gemcitabine; mFOLFIRINOX; surgery.

MeSH terms

Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal* / drug therapy
Humans
Killer Cells, Natural
Pancreatic Neoplasms* / drug therapy
T-Lymphocyte Subsets