Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42639099›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in immunology2026

A predictive model for immunotherapy efficacy in cancer based on dynamic changes of CD8+ T cells: a pan-cancer retrospective study.

Mengyan Xie, Chao Wang, Jun Zhang, Xinming Jing, Pei Ma, Yongqian Shu

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Article in Frontiers in immunology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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5 · Who and what money

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6 authors.

Mengyan Xie *Department of Oncology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Chao Wang *Department of Oncology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Jun ZhangDepartment of Oncology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Xinming JingCancer Center, Daping Hospital & Army Medical Center of PLA, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, China.
Pei MaDepartment of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
Yongqian ShuDepartment of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have revolutionized cancer treatment, but reliable peripheral blood biomarkers for monitoring treatment response and predicting prognosis remain limited. This study aimed to analyze the dynamic changes of lymphocyte subsets in patients receiving ICI therapy, evaluate their role in treatment response monitoring and prognosis assessment, and develop a practical clinical risk stratification tool. Methods: A total of 121 patients with malignancies who received ICI therapy and had available lymphocyte subset data were retrospectively enrolled. Peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets and routine blood test data were collected before and after treatment. The associations between changes in these parameters and treatment response as well as progression-free survival (PFS) were analyzed using univariate and multivariate Cox regression models. A risk score model and a simplified clinical scoring system were constructed and validated using time-dependent receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and Kaplan-Meier analysis. Results: Pan-cancer analysis showed that a decrease in CD8+ T cell count after treatment was significantly associated with progressive disease (PD) and inversely correlated with PFS (HR = 0.2308, 95% CI: 0.0875-0.5636). A non-immunotherapy validation cohort further confirmed the immunotherapy-specific nature of CD8+ T cell dynamics. Multivariate Cox analysis identified decreased CD8+ T cell count, elevated neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), multiple lines of therapy, and specific cancer types (hepatopancreatobiliary malignancies) as independent unfavorable prognostic factors. Time-dependent area under the curve (AUC) values at 2.5, 3.5, and 5.7 months were 0.727, 0.827, and 0.853, respectively, indicating good predictive performance. The risk score based on these variables stratified patients into low-, medium-, and high-risk groups (median PFS: not reached, not reached, and 4.5 months, respectively; p<0.001). A simplified clinical scoring system also effectively distinguished different prognostic groups (median PFS: not reached, 6.2 months, and 4.3 months, respectively; p<0.001). Conclusions: The dynamic change in CD8+ T cell count before and after treatment is an independent predictor of PFS in patients receiving ICI therapy and exhibits immunotherapy specificity. The proposed risk stratification tool, incorporating CD8+ T cell dynamics, NLR change, and key clinical variables, provides a simple and effective approach for prognostic assessment and may facilitate individualized treatment decision-making in clinical practice.

Indexed as

CD8-Positive T-LymphocytesImmune Checkpoint InhibitorsImmunotherapyNeoplasmsAgedFemaleHumansLymphocyte CountMaleMiddle AgedPrognosisRetrospective StudiesTreatment OutcomeImmune Checkpoint Inhibitorscancer immunotherapyCD8+ T cellsimmune checkpoint inhibitorslymphocyte subsetsrisk stratification

Identifiers

PMID42639099
PMCPMC13500775

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.