Efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors combined with concurrent chemotherapy in treatment of non-small cell lung cancer and its effect on levels of tumor markers and immune cells of patients / 肿瘤研究与临床

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the effect of immune checkpoint inhibitors combined with concurrent chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the effect of this regimen on serum levels of tumor marker and immune cells of patients.Methods:The clinical data of 60 NSCLC patients in Xuzhou Cancer Hospital from February 2020 to February 2022 were retrospectively analyzed, and they were divided into chemotherapy combined with immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment group (combination treatment group) and conventional chemotherapy group by treatment methods, with 30 cases in each group. Before treatment and 6 weeks after treatment, the patients' serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), cytokeratin 19 fragment antigen 21-1 (CYFRA21-1) were detected by chemiluminescence immunoassay, and the levels of serum tumorous M2 pyruvate kinase (TuM2-PK) and fatty acid synthase (FAS) were detected by double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The levels of T cell subsets were measured by flow cytometry, and the quality of life of patients was evaluated according to the World Health Organization quality of life scale brief version (WHOQOL-BREF). The clinical efficacy, tumor markers levels, immune cells levels, quality of life and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups.Results:The overall effective rate of patients in the combination treatment group was 46.67% (14/30), which was higher than 20.00% (6/30) in the conventional chemotherapy group ( χ2 = 4.80, P = 0.029). The differences in serum CEA, CA125, VEGF, CYFRA21-1, TuM2-PK, FAS levels and the proportions of CD3 +, CD4 +, CD8 + T cells and WHOQOL-BREF scores between the two groups before treatment were not statistically significant (all P > 0.05); the levels of CEA, CA125, VEGF, CYFRA21-1, TuM2-PK, FAS and the proportion of CD8 + T cells at 6 weeks after treatment were lower than those before treatment in both groups (all P < 0.05), and the proportions of CD3 + and CD4 + T cells and WHOQOL-BREF scores were higher than those before treatment (all P < 0.05); the levels CEA, CA125, VEGF, CYFRA21-1, TuM2-PK and the proportions of CD8 + T cells in the combination treatment group at 6 weeks after treatment were higher than those in the conventional chemotherapy group at 6 weeks after treatment (all P < 0.001), and the proportions of CD3 + and CD4 + T cells and WHOQOL-BREF scores were higher than those in the conventional chemotherapy group at 6 weeks after treatment (all P < 0.05). The differences in the incidence of gastrointestinal reactions, alopecia, leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, and liver and kidney function impairment between the two groups were not statistically significant (all P > 0.05). Conclusions:Immune checkpoint inhibitors combined with chemotherapy in NSCLC patients are more effective than conventional chemotherapy, and the combined treatment can more effectively reduce the serum tumor marker levels of patients and enhance the anti-tumor immune effect, with the adverse reactions comparable to conventional chemotherapy.