PD-1/PD-L1 interaction score and NKT-like cell infiltration predict immunotherapy efficacy in non-small cell lung cancer patients

Objective

The currently available biomarkers are insufficient to accurately predict the immunotherapy response in patients. This work attempted to investigate effects of PD-1/PD-L1 interaction score combined with NKT-like cell infiltration level in tumor microenvironment on predicting immunotherapy efficacy.

Methods

24 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who underwent immunotherapy were analyzed using multiplex immunofluorescence to quantitatively assess positive cells of target biomarkers and their spatial localization. Correlation between PD-1/PD-L1 interaction score in combination with NKT-like cell infiltration level and immunotherapy response was analyzed. The predictive performance of two individual biomarkers and combined novel biomarkers in immunotherapy efficacy was assessed through receiver operating characteristic curve analysis. Relationships between these factors and patient survival prognosis were analyzed using Kaplan–Meier curves.

Results

Among responders, PD-1/PD-L1 interaction score and NKT-like cell infiltration level were significantly higher than nonresponders (P < 0.05), and PD-1/PD-L1 interaction score and NKT-like cell infiltration level could effectively identify the population with immunotherapy response, with area under the curves (AUCs) of 0.7571 and 0.8643, respectively. Combination of the two had the best performance in predicting the efficacy of immunotherapy (AUC = 0.9070). High PD-1/PD-L1 interaction scores and high levels of NKT-like cell infiltration significantly improved progression-free survival (HR = 0.2544, P = 0.0053) and overall survival (HR = 0.2820, P = 0.0053) in patients.

Conclusions

Combination of PD-1/PD-L1 interaction score and NKT-like cell infiltration level had favorable performance in predicting immunotherapy response in NSCLC patients, contributing to accurately identify patients who may benefit from immunotherapy.