A novel poly(ether-imide)-based alkaline anion exchange membrane with no free base has been prepared and characterized for its ionic conductivity in water, which is a critical metric of its ...applicability in a liquid-fed direct methanol fuel cell. The poly(ether-imide)-based membranes were prepared by chloromethylation, quaternization and alkalization of commercial poly(ether-imide) and the derivatives were characterized by NMR. The chemical and thermal stabilities were investigated by measuring changes of ionic conductivities when the membranes were placed in various alkaline concentrations and temperatures for 24
h. The membranes were stable at all concentrations of KOH at room temperature, but not at elevated temperatures. The membranes were stable in 1.0
M KOH solution up to 80
°C without losing membrane integrity. The measured conductivity of the formed membrane ranged from 2.28 to 3.51
×
10
−3
S/cm at room temperature. This preliminary study indicates that functionalized poly(ether-imide) has suitable conductivity suggesting that it can be used as an alkaline anion exchange membrane in fuel cell applications.
Tumor-associated high endothelial venules (TA-HEVs) mediate lymphocyte entry into tumors. Therefore, combined anti-angiogenesis therapy and programmed death-1 (PD-1) inhibitors might stimulate tumor ...immunity. This study will explore the TA-HEVs and real-world data of the combination therapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Firstly, we found a certain relationship between HEVs and immune effector cells by multiple immunofluorescence staining. We then analyzed the efficacy of immunotherapy combined with anti-angiogenesis therapy in advanced NSCLC patients by collecting real-world clinical data. Finally, we explored the predictive value of HEVs in combination therapy by analyzing pre-treatment pathological slides of patients with multiple immunofluorescence and RNA sequencing. Immunofluorescence staining of high endothelial venules (PNAd+) reveals that the frequency of HEVs is positively correlated with tumor-infiltrating stem-like CD8+ T cells (TCF-1+PD-1+) in the TME of advanced NSCLC patients (P = 0.0221). We retrospectively analyzed the efficacy of 96 patients with advanced NSCLC who received PD-1 inhibitors combined with anti-angiogenesis therapy in the real-world. The median PFS of patients combined with anti-angiogenesis therapy was longer than that of patients without anti-angiogenesis therapy (9.7 vs 8.6 months, P = 0.041). Multiple immunofluorescence staining of tumor biopsies before treatment from 14 patients with advanced NSCLC reveals that PNAd+ is predictive of better response and survival upon PD-1 inhibitors combined with anti-angiogenesis therapy (P = 0.0274). In addition, we collected peripheral blood from an effective group of patients for RNA sequencing and found that immune cells activation-related gene expression scores were higher. Combined anti-angiogenic and anti-PD-1 therapy stimulates tumor immunity through TA-HEVs formation. TA-HEVs not only mediate immune cell entry into tumors, but also are associated with the efficacy of PD-1 inhibitors and anti-angiogenesis therapy in NSCLC.
Abstract Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a common malignancy whose prognosis and treatment outcome are influenced by many factors. Some studies have found that tertiary lymphoid structures ...(TLSs) in cancer may contribute to prognosis and the prediction of immunotherapy efficacy However, the combined role of TLSs in NSCLC remains unclear. We accessed The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases to obtain mRNA sequencing data and clinical information as the TCGA cohort, and used our own sample of 53 advanced NSCLC as a study cohort. The samples were divided into TLS+ and TLS- groups by pathological tissue sections. Patients of the TLS+ group had a better OS ( p = 0.022), PFS ( p = 0.042), and DSS ( p = 0.004) in the TCGA cohort, and the results were confirmed by the study cohort (PFS, p = 0.012). Furthermore, our result showed that the count and size of TLSs are closely associated with the efficacy of immunotherapy. In addition, the TLS+ group was associated with better immune status and lower tumor mutation load. In the tumor microenvironment (TME), the expression levels of CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cells of different phenotypes were associated with TLSs. Overall, TLSs are a strong predictor of survival and immunotherapeutic efficacy in advanced NSCLC, and T cell-rich TLSs suggest a more ordered and active immune response site, which aids in the decision-making and application of immunotherapy in the clinic.
We conducted a retrospective study to evaluate the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) rechallenge in patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The study included 111 ...patients who had previously received ICI therapy and experienced disease progression. The primary endpoints assessed were overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and objective response rate (ORR). Our findings revealed that the ICI rechallenge showed promising results in improving patient outcomes. OS (r) is the time from rechallenging with immune checkpoint inhibitors to the last follow-up or death from any cause. The median OS (r) was 14.3 months (95% CI 11.3-17.3 months), with a median PFS (r) of 5.9 months (95% CI 4.1-7.7 months). The ORR was 17.1%; the DCR was 82.3%. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that patients without brain or liver metastases had a longer OS (r) compared to those with metastases (21.6 vs. 13.8 months, χ
= 3.873, P = 0.046; 20.8 vs. 9.1 months, χ
= 10.733, P = 0.001, respectively). Moreover, patients without driver gene mutations exhibited significantly longer OS than those with mutations or wild-type patients (22.9 vs. 16.1 vs. 7.5 months, χ
= 10.710, P = 0.005). Notably, patients who switched to a different ICI during the rechallenge had shorter OS than those who did not change medications (10.4 vs. 21.1 months, χ
= 9.014, P = 0.003). The incidence of immune-related adverse events did not significantly differ between the two treatment phases. These findings suggest that ICI rechallenge may be a viable therapeutic strategy for select NSCLC patients. Further prospective studies are needed to validate these results and guide treatment decisions for advanced NSCLC.
Objective To investigate the impact of PD1-TCF1+CD8+ stem-like memory T cells on immunotherapy prognosis and tertiary lymphoid structure in tumors. Methods Pathological tissue sections were collected ...from 33 patients treated with immunotherapy, 18 cases of NSCLC and 15 cases of ESCC. The expression of PD1-TCF1+CD8+T cells was detected through quantitative analysis by multiplex immunofluorescence. Survival curves were described by the Kaplan-Meier method. Pearson's correlation test was used for correlation analysis. Results The high levels of PD1-TCF1+CD8+T cells had a better PFS in NSCLC and ESCC cohorts. In the NSCLC cohort, high levels of PD1-TCF1+CD8+ T cells were significantly and positively correlated with the number (P=0.0151) and size (P=0.0007) of TLSs. Conclusion In patients with NSCLC and ESCCs, high PD1-TCF1+CD8+ stem-like memory T cell expression indicates improved prognosis and immune response and is associated with the formation of TLSs in the tumor microenvironment of NSCLC.
Objective To explore the effect of peripheral blood markers on the efficacy and prognosis of patients with advanced esophageal cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Methods The ...case data of 61 patients with advanced esophageal cancer who met the inclusion criteria were collected. Data on clinical indicators and peripheral blood markers as well as objective response rate (ORR) and progressionfree-survival (PFS) were obtained. Results The median PFS of the included patients was 7.10 months (95%CI: 5.12-9.07). The ORR of patients with baseline lactate dehydrogenase (LDH)<201 was better than that of patients with LDH≥201 (P<0.05). Univariate analysis showed that baseline LDH0<201, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR)<3.9, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR)<240.3, and LDH1<249.0 two weeks after ICI treatment were significantly associated with significant improvement in PFS (P<0.05). In multivariate analysis, patients with NLR0<3.9 had longer PFS (P<0.05). Conclusion LDH0<201, NLR0<3.9, PLR0<240.
Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is an essential pathological subtype of non-small cell lung cancer and offers a severe problem for worldwide public health. There is mounting proof that angiogenesis is a ...crucial player in LUAD progression. Consequently, the purpose of this research was to construct a novel LUAD risk assessment model based on genetic markers related to angiogenesis. We accessed The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) databases for LUAD mRNA sequencing data and clinical information. Based on machine algorithms and bioinformatics, angiogenic gene-related risk scores (RS) were calculated. Patients in the high-risk category had a worse prognosis (
< 0.001) in the discovery TCGA cohort, and the results were confirmed by these three cohorts (validation TCGA cohort, total TCGA cohort, and GSE68465 cohort). Moreover, risk scores for genes involved in angiogenesis were independent risk factors for lung cancer in all four cohorts. The low-risk group was associated with better immune status and lower tumor mutational load. In addition, the somatic mutation study revealed that the low-risk group had a lower mutation frequency than the high-risk group. According to an analysis of tumor stem cell infiltration, HLA expression, and TIDE scores, the low-risk group had higher TIDE scores and HLA expression levels than the high-risk group, and the amount of tumor stem cell infiltration correlated with the risk score. In addition, high-risk groups may benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapies. In conclusion, we developed an angiogenesis-related gene risk model to predict the prognosis of LUAD patients, which may aid in the classification of patients with LUAD and select medications for LUAD patients.
The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the prognostic value of memory CD8(+) T cells in cancer patients with immunotherapy.
EMBASE, MEDLINE (PubMed), and Web of ...Science databases were searched to identify suitabile articles published before March 2021. Risk of bias on the study level was assessed using the Cochrane Bias Risk Assessment Tool. The hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of pooled progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated using RevMan 5.4 to evaluate the prognostic impact of memory CD8(+) T cells.
In total, nine studies were included in the final analysis. High levels of memory CD8(+) T cells were significantly closely correlated with better progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) of cancer patients with immunotherapy (PFS, HR 0.64, 95% CI 0.53-0.78; OS, HR 0.37, 95% CI 0.21-0.65). Memory CD8(+) T cells still have significant prognostic value in cancer patients given immunotherapy alone after excluding of other interfering factors such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and targeted therapy (PFS, HR 0.65, 95% CI 0.48-0.89; OS, HR 0.23, 95% CI 0.13-0.42). However, high memory CD8(+) T cells levels did not correspond to a longer PFS or OS in cancer patients with non-immunotherapy (PFS, HR 1.05, 95% CI 0.63-1.73; OS, HR 1.29, 95% CI 0.48-3.48). Thus, memory CD8(+) T cells might be a promising predictor in cancer patients with immunotherapy.
The host's overall immune status, and not only the tumor itself, should be considered to predict the efficacy of immunotherapy in cancer patients. This study is the first to show the significant prognostic value of memory CD8(+) T cells in immunotherapy of cancer patients through systematic review and meta-analysis. Thus, the detection of memory CD8(+) T cells has a considerable value in clinical practice in cancer patients with immunotherapy. Memory CD8(+) T cells may be promising immunotherapy targets.
PDF