Peripheral B-cell levels predict efficacy and overall survival in advanced melanoma patients under PD-1 immunotherapy.

ABSTRACT

Aims: Programmed death-1 (PD-1) blockade is a vital therapy for solid tumors, but not all patients benefit. Identifying which patients will benefit from immunotherapy is a key focus in oncology research. Patients & Methods: This study analyzed the correlation between the number of peripheral lymphocytes and the efficacy and prognosis of immunotherapy in advanced malignant melanoma. Results: Patients with a partial response had significantly lower peripheral B cell levels, and patients with a lower number of B lymphocytes had a longer survival time. Conclusion: These results suggest that peripheral B cells are correlated with the efficacy of PD-1 antibody and prognosis and are thus potential biomarkers for the efficacy and prognosis of PD-1 antibody immunotherapy in malignant melanoma.

Immunotherapy is an important treatment for cancer patients with solid tumors. Because immunotherapy does not work equally well for everybody, an important area of research is to determine for which patients the treatment will work. Our study focused on skin cancer patients. We examined the relationship between the number of B cells (a type of immune cell) in patients' blood, and how well they responded to immunotherapy. We observed that patients who partially responded to treatment had lower levels of B cells. Additionally, patients who had a lower number of B cells also had a longer survival time. This could mean that looking at patients' B cell levels might be useful in working out how well they well respond to immunotherapy.