title: Patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma exhibit elevated levels of myeloid-derived suppressor cells upon progression of disease.
abstract: Elevated levels of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) induced by tumor-derived factors are associated with inhibition of immune responses in patients with gastrointestinal malignancies. We hypothesized that pro-MDSC cytokines and levels of MDSC in the peripheral blood would be elevated in pancreatic adenocarcinoma patients with progressive disease. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from 16 pancreatic cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and phenotyped for MDSC using a five antigen panel (CD33, HLA-DR, CD11b, CD14, CD15). Patients with stable disease had significantly lower MDSC levels in the peripheral blood than those with progressive disease (1.41 ± 1.12 vs. 5.14 ± 4.58 %, p = 0.013, Wilcoxon test). A cutoff of 2.5 % MDSC identified patients with progressive disease. Patients with ECOG performance status ≥2 had a weaker association with increased levels of MDSC. Plasma was obtained from 15 chemonaive patients, 13 patients undergoing chemotherapy and 9 normal donors. Increases in the levels of pro-MDSC cytokines were observed for pancreatic cancer patients versus controls, and the pro-MDSC cytokine IL-6 was increased in those patients undergoing chemotherapy. This study suggests that MDSC in peripheral blood may be a predictive biomarker of chemotherapy failure in pancreatic cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Medical Oncology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Markowitz
authors.forename: Taylor R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: Megan C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Duggan
authors.forename: Bonnie K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: Xueliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Lai
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Zachary
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Abrams
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Luedke
authors.forename: Gregory B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Lesinski
authors.forename: Bethany
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mundy-Bosse
authors.forename: Tanios
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bekaii-Saab
authors.forename: William E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Carson
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000378:metabolism; D002452:Cell Count; D002630:Chemotactic Factors / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D016130:Immunophenotyping; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D022423:Myeloid Cells / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D015398:Signal Transduction
chemical_list: D000954:Antigens, Surface; D002630:Chemotactic Factors; D016207:Cytokines; D006684:HLA-DR Antigens