Study on the predictive value of lymphocyte subsets and cytokines for the effect of immunotherapy in advanced colorectal cancer

Chen Yan; Wu Yufei; Guo Feng

doi:10.3760/j.issn.1673-4777.2025.10.015

Abstract：Objective To evaluate the role of lymphocyte subsets and cytokines in predicting the efficacy of immunotherapy in patients with advanced colorectal cancer,in order to provide effective clinical predictive tools for individualized treatment of patients with advanced colorectal cancer.Methods The clinical data of 52 patients with advanced colorectal cancer treated with programmed cell death receptor-1/programmed cell death receptor ligand-1 inhibitor in Suzhou Municipal Hospital,Jiangsu Province from October 2022 to April 2025 were collected and retrospectively analyzed.According to the response evaluation criteria in solid tumors,the patients were divided into complete response,partial response,stable disease and progressive disease.The patients with complete response,partial response and stable disease were classified into the control group(29 cases),and the patients with progressive disease were classified into the progression group(23 cases).The levels of lymphocyte subsets(regulatory T cells,CD3+,CD4+,CD8+,CD19+,natural killer cells)and cytokines[interleukin-2(IL-2),IL-4,IL-6,IL-10,tumor necrosis factor-α,interferon-γ]were compared between the two groups before and after treatment,and their correlation with the efficacy of immunotherapy was analyzed.Results The level of natural killer cells in the control group was significantly higher than that in the progression group before treatment[19.1％(14.6％,24.9％)vs 8.0％(7.2％,18.2％)](P=0.041).After treatment,IL-6 in the progression group was significantly higher than that before treatment,and IL-6 in the control group was significantly lower than that before treatment,and IL-6 in the control group was lower than that in the progression group[4.7(3.5,9.5)ng/L vs 17.3(14.7,47.4)ng/L](all P＜0.05).Through Pearson correlation analysis,it was found that IL-6 was negatively correlated with tumor progression(r=-0.489,P=0.003),suggesting that the higher the IL-6 level,the worse the treatment effect.Conclusion Natural killer cells and IL-6 have potential value in predicting the response of immunotherapy in patients with advanced colorectal cancer.Increased levels of natural killer cells are associated with better treatment response,whereas increased IL-6 may predict a worse prognosis.