Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40114261›Full record

ArticleRadiation oncology (London, England)2025

Early recovery of leukocyte subsets is associated with favorable progression-free survival in patients with inoperable stage II/III NSCLC after multimodal treatment: a prospective explorative study.

Thomas P Hofer, Alexander E Nieto, Lukas Käsmann, Carolyn J Pelikan, Julian Taugner, Saloni Mathur, Chukwuka Eze, Claus Belka, Farkhad Manapov, Elfriede Noessner

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Radiation oncology (London, England), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Thomas P HoferHelmholtz Zentrum München, Immunoanalytics - Tissue Control of Immunocytes, Munich, Germany. thomas.hofer@helmholtz-munich.de.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9713-3138
Alexander E NietoDepartment of Radiation Oncology, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
Lukas KäsmannDepartment of Radiation Oncology, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
Carolyn J PelikanHelmholtz Zentrum München, Immunoanalytics - Tissue Control of Immunocytes, Munich, Germany.
Julian TaugnerDepartment of Radiation Oncology, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
Saloni MathurHelmholtz Zentrum München, Immunoanalytics - Tissue Control of Immunocytes, Munich, Germany.
Chukwuka EzeDepartment of Radiation Oncology, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
Claus BelkaDepartment of Radiation Oncology, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
Farkhad Manapov *Department of Radiation Oncology, LMU University Hospital, LMU Munich, Munich, Germany.
Elfriede Noessner *Helmholtz Zentrum München, Immunoanalytics - Tissue Control of Immunocytes, Munich, Germany.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4709-9266

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWe explored the dynamic changes of major leukocyte subsets during definitive treatment of patients with inoperable stage II/III NSCLC lung cancer and correlated it to survival to identify subpopulations associated with maximal patient benefit.

methodsWe analyzed peripheral blood of 20 patients, either treated with thoracic radiotherapy (RT), concurrent chemo-radiotherapy (cCRT), or cCRT with additional immune-checkpoint inhibition therapy. Peripheral blood of 20 patients was collected at 9 timepoints before, during, and up to 1 year post treatment and analyzed by multi-color flow cytometry. Statistical analysis was conducted for leukocyte subpopulations, IL-6, progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS).

resultsIncrease of absolute lymphocyte counts (ALC) after the end of RT until 6 months thereafter was a predictor of PFS. Baseline lymphocyte counts showed no significant correlation to PFS or OS. Early recovery of absolute counts (AC) at 3 weeks after RT, total CD3 + T-cells, and CD8 + cytotoxic T-cells distinguished those patients with favorable PFS (≥ 12 months) from all other patients. Discriminant analysis identified B-cells, neutrophil-lymphocyte-ratio (NLR), CD4 + T-helper-cells, and NK-cells as predictors of favorable PFS. High variability in IL-6 plasma concentration of consecutive measurements within 6 months after the end of RT correlated negatively with PFS.

conclusionOur results suggest that two parameters commonly assessed in clinical routine can be used to predict patient outcome. These are: early increase in CD8 + T-cell lymphocyte count and variability in IL-6 plasma concentration, that are correlated to patients with favorable, respectively, poor outcome after definitive therapy independent of treatment regimen.

Indexed as

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell LungChemoradiotherapyLeukocytesLung NeoplasmsAdultAgedCombined Modality TherapyFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeoplasm StagingPrognosisProgression-Free SurvivalProspective StudiesSurvival RateArea under curve analysisB-cellsCD4 + T-cellsCD8 + T-cellsEosinophilsImmune checkpoint therapyLinear discriminant analysisNeutrophilsNK-cellsNon-small cell lung cancerOverall survivalPeripheral blood markersProgression-free survival

Identifiers

PMID40114261
PMCPMC11927295

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.