title: A nomogram for predicting the benefit of adjuvant cytokine-induced killer cell immunotherapy in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: The benefits of adjuvant cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cell immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain mixed among patients. Here, we constructed a prognostic nomogram to enable individualized predictions of survival benefit of adjuvant CIK cell treatment for HCC patients. Survival analysis showed that the median overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) for patients in the hepatectomy/CIK combination group were 41 and 16 months, respectively, compared to 28 and 12 months for patients in the hepatectomy alone group (control). Based on multivariate analysis of the entire cohort, independent factors for OS were tumor size, tumor capsule, pathological grades, total bilirubin, albumin, prothrombin time, alpha-fetoprotein, and tumor number, which were incorporated into the nomogram. The survival prediction model performed well, as assessed by the c-index and calibration curve. Internal validation revealed a c-index of 0.698, which was significantly greater than the c-index value of the TNM (tumor-node-metastasis) staging systems of 0.634. The calibration curves fitted well. In conclusions, our developed nomogram resulted in more accurate individualized predictions of the survival benefit from adjuvant CIK cell treatment after hepatectomy. The model may provide valuable information to aid in the decision making regarding the application of adjuvant CIK cell immunotherapy.
authors.affiliation: 1] Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China [2] Department of Biotherapy, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qiu-Zhong
authors.initials: QZ
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotherapy, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qi-Jing
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Chengdu Fifth People's Hospital, Sichuan, China.
authors.forename: Jia-Qiang
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Dan
authors.affiliation: 1] Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China [2] Department of Biotherapy, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotherapy, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yong-Qiang
authors.initials: YQ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yao-Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: 1] Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China [2] Department of Biotherapy, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jing-Jing
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: 1] Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China [2] Department of Biotherapy, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: De-Sheng
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.affiliation: 1] Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China [2] Department of Biotherapy, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotherapy, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Li-Xi
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotherapy, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotherapy, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Shi-Ping
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biotherapy, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Miao-La
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Ke
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary Oncology, Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Min-Shan
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Max S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Wicha
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Alfred E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yi-Xin
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Qiao
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: 1] Collaborative Innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China [2] Department of Biotherapy, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Chuan
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Xia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D055612:Cytokine-Induced Killer Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D047368:Tumor Burden; D055815:Young Adult