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Dynamic biomarkers indicate the immunological benefits provided by Ganoderma spore powder in post-operative breast and lung cancer patients

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Abstract

Background

T lymphocyte are a strong indicator of treatment immune response. This study was aimed to determine the utility of T lymphocyte subsets, cytokines and inflammatory biomarkers in predicting the immunological benefits of Ganoderma spore powder (G. lucidum) in post-operative patients with breast and lung cancer.

Methods

We prospectively evaluated 120 breast and lung cancer patients with or without G. lucidum. T lymphocyte subsets with relative cytokines were detected using flow cytometry and PCR and assessed by Spearman correlation analysis. The relationships between albumin-to-globulin ratio (AGR) and neutrophil–to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) with G. lucidum treatment and prognosis were analyzed using Kaplan–Meier and Cox regression methods.

Results

The prevalence of CD3 + CD4 + , CD3 + HLADR- types was higher in G. lucidum group compared to control, whilst CD4 + CD25 + Treg, CD3 + HLADR + cell types was lower. IL-12 levels were significantly higher during the treatment period which negatively impacted levels of IL-10. Other immunosuppressive factors such as COX2 and TGF-β1 had lower prevalence in treated patients. Correlation analysis showed a positive relationship between IL-10 and CD28. IL-2 was positively related to TGF-β1, whilst it was negatively related to CD3. Kaplan–Meier analysis suggested that low AGR/high NLR was related to poor progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). A combination of high AGR and low NLR may predicted treatment benefits associated with PFS and OS.

Conclusions

Our findings show that T lymphocyte subsets combined with relevant cytokines and AGR/NLR inflammatory predictors may help to identify patients most likely to benefit from the immunological enhancements from G. lucidum treatment.

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Data availability

Data are available upon reasonable request. No additional data are available for this study in repositories. Inquiries concerning the data may be made to the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

The G. lucidum was supplied by Jiangxi Tianhai Group (Batch number 2014AA022206-LC02). The clinical data detection was supported by Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital.

Funding

National High Technology Research and Development Program (863 Program), Subject No.: 2014AA022206, China.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Y. Deng, J. Ma contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, 150081, Heilongjiang Province, People’s Republic of China

    Y. Deng, D. Tang & Q. Zhang

  2. Department of Radiation Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, 150081, Heilongjiang Province, People’s Republic of China

    J. Ma

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  1. Y. Deng
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  2. J. Ma
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  3. D. Tang
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  4. Q. Zhang
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Contributions

QZ designed and directed this study. YD drafted the initial manuscript and participated in trial monitoring. JM and DT modified the manuscript and conducted statistical analysis. All authors devoted to the revision of the manuscript and approved the final version.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to D. Tang or Q. Zhang.

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Conflict of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Ethics approval

This study, including the procedures for patient enrollment and recruitment, was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital.

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All patients who participated in the study provided written informed consent. This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Deng, Y., Ma, J., Tang, D. et al. Dynamic biomarkers indicate the immunological benefits provided by Ganoderma spore powder in post-operative breast and lung cancer patients. Clin Transl Oncol 23, 1481–1490 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-020-02547-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12094-020-02547-9

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