Expression of zeta in T cells prior to interleukin-2 therapy as a predictor of response and survival in patients with ovarian carcinoma.
Expression levels of T-cell receptor (TcR)-associated zeta chain were reported to reflect functional competence of T lymphocytes in patients with cancer. This retrospective study was performed to evaluate zeta chain expression in circulating T cells obtained from clinical responders and nonresponders among 19 patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma treated with intraperitoneal interleukin-2 (IL-2) biotherapy. Banked lymphocytes, which were collected from the patients who participated in a phase I clinical trial performed between 1987 and 1990, were used for quantitative flow cytometry to measure zeta-chain expression in T lymphocytes prior to and at the end of therapy. The data were correlated with 7-year survival. The patients (9 responders and 10 nonresponders) were stratified into two groups based on zeta chain expression in CD3+ T cells above or below the mean. Patients with lower zeta expression in circulating T cells had shorter survival compared to patients whose T cells expressed high zeta. Pretherapy zeta expression was significantly lower (p = 0.03) in CD8+T cells of nonresponders than in CD8+T cells of normal controls. In patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma, low expression of the zeta chain in peripheral blood T cells prior to biotherapy might both reflect a large tumor burden and predict a poor of response to IL-2 bio-therapy.
Kuss
Iris
I
University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Rabinowich
Hannah
H
Gooding
William
W
Edwards
Robert
R
Whiteside
Theresa L
TL
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000032:analysis*; D015996:Survival Rate; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000737:chemistry*
D007376:Interleukin-2; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell; C054979:antigen T cell receptor, zeta chain