FLOW CYTOMETRIC EVALUATION OF PERIPHERAL BLOOD BIOMARKERS FOR SOLID TUMOURS IMMUNOTHERAPY GUIDING: A REVIEW

Authors

  • Ana Catrina Trigo Immunology Department, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Porto, Portugal; Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto, Porto, Portugal; Experimental Pathology and Therapeutics Group, Portuguese Institute of Oncology, Porto, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0383-7266
  • Patrícia Maia Immunology Department, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Porto, Portugal; Department of Chemistry, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal; Experimental Pathology and Therapeutics Group, Portuguese Institute of Oncology, Porto, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1216-3280
  • Inês Godinho Immunology Department, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Porto, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7952-8702
  • Catarina A. Rodrigues Experimental Pathology and Therapeutics Group, Portuguese Institute of Oncology, 4200-162 Porto, Portugal; Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP), Porto, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1305-8055
  • Maria Emília Sousa Immunology Department, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Porto, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4965-9530
  • Ana Marta Pires Immunology Department, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Porto, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9011-5818
  • Carla Azevedo Immunology Department, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Porto, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6360-2100
  • Lúcio Lara Santos Experimental Pathology and Therapeutics Group, Portuguese Institute of Oncology, Porto, Portugal; Health Science Faculty, University of Fernando Pessoa, Porto, Portugal; Department of Surgical Oncology, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Porto, Portugal; Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (P.ccc), Porto, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0521-5655
  • Carlos Palmeira Immunology Department, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Porto, Portugal; Experimental Pathology and Therapeutics Group, Portuguese Institute of Oncology, Porto, Portugal; Health Science Faculty, University of Fernando Pessoa, Porto, Portugal; Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (P.ccc), Porto, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4833-2202
  • Gabriela Martins Immunology Department, Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto, Porto, Portugal; Experimental Pathology and Therapeutics Group, Portuguese Institute of Oncology, Porto, Portugal; Porto Comprehensive Cancer Centre (P.ccc), Porto, Portugal http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1367-8852

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34635/rpc.852

Keywords:

Cancer immunotherapy, Immune checkpoint inhibitors, Peripheral blood biomarkers, Peripheral immunoscore, Flow Cytometry

Abstract

Cancer treatment is an area that is constantly being updated, namely with the discovery of immunotherapy as a clinically effective therapeutic modality for various types of cancer. Among these innovative therapies, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have proven to provide significant and long-lasting responses. However, this response does not occur for all patients, i.e., some patients do not benefit from this therapy. Due to this heterogeneity in immunotherapy response, there is an urgent need to identify and establish biomarkers that will allow the identification of patients who will respond to the therapy, while sparing the non-responders from adverse effects. In addition, the use these biomarkers in monitoring the response during treatment seems promising. Given the recognized role of the immune system in the anti-tumour response, these cells have been intensively studied as potential biomarkers. Their study in peripheral blood (PB) has been of great interest and importance, given its easy accessibility and less invasive nature. The detailed and integral evaluation of peripheral immunity requires a multiparametric methodology such as flow cytometry (FC), applying the simultaneous analysis of lineage markers together with maturation, activation and functional state markers. In this narrative literature review, we intend to describe the “state of the art” on the FC study of PB immune cell populations as potential biomarkers for ICI therapy in solid tumours. The results found are presented for each of the major populations and their subsets, namely T lymphocytes, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), neutrophils, eosinophils, dendritic cells (CD), natural killer cells (NK), monocyte subsets, and B cells. 

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Published

2021-01-20

Issue

No. 49 (2020): Number 49 - December 2020

Section

Review Article

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