The therapeutic benefits of the immunotherapeutic combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab (Atez/Bev) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) vary. Therapeutic biomarkers might help improve outcomes for HCC patients receiving Atez/Bev therapy. The role of systemic immune profiles in HCC progression also remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the status and dynamics of peripheral T cell subpopulations in HCC patients receiving Atez/Bev treatment and to explore biomarkers predictive of a therapeutic response. We enrolled 83 unresectable advanced HCC patients who commenced Atez/Bev treatment at our hospital between October 2020 and June 2022. Peripheral T cell subpopulations in peripheral blood mononuclear cells at baseline and 3 weeks post-treatment were investigated using flow cytometry and compared with those in control samples from 18 healthy individuals. We retrospectively analyzed the association between peripheral T cell subpopulation profiles and clinical outcomes. Baseline peripheral T cell subpopulations could be profiled in 70 patients with sufficient cell counts, among whom 3-week subpopulations could be evaluated in 51 patients. Multivariate analysis showed that a high baseline proportion of CD8+ central memory T (TCM) cells was independently associated with longer progression-free survival (PFS). Further, overall survival (OS) was significantly prolonged in patients with increased CD8+ effector memory T (TEM) cell proportions. In conclusion, TCM proportion at baseline might be a good indicator of the efficacy of Atez/Bev therapy. Furthermore, observation of increasing TEM proportions might be an early predictor of the potential clinical benefits of treatment.
阿替利珠单抗与贝伐珠单抗联合免疫疗法（Atez/Bev）在肝细胞癌（HCC）中的治疗效果存在差异。治疗性生物标志物可能有助于改善接受Atez/Bev治疗的HCC患者的预后。全身免疫特征在HCC进展中的作用仍不明确。本研究旨在评估接受Atez/Bev治疗的HCC患者外周T细胞亚群的基线状态及动态变化，并探索可预测治疗反应的生物标志物。我们纳入了2020年10月至2022年6月期间在本院开始接受Atez/Bev治疗的83例不可切除晚期HCC患者。通过流式细胞术检测基线及治疗3周后外周血单个核细胞中的T细胞亚群，并与18名健康对照者的样本进行比较。我们回顾性分析了外周T细胞亚群特征与临床结局之间的关联。在70例细胞数量充足的患者中完成了基线外周T细胞亚群分析，其中51例患者可评估治疗3周后的亚群变化。多变量分析显示，基线CD8+中央记忆T细胞（TCM）比例较高与更长的无进展生存期（PFS）独立相关。此外，CD8+效应记忆T细胞（TEM）比例升高的患者总生存期（OS）显著延长。综上所述，基线TCM比例可能是评估Atez/Bev疗效的良好指标，而TEM比例的增加可能成为预测治疗潜在临床获益的早期指标。
肿瘤(癌症)患者之家