title: Prediction of the preoperative chemoradiotherapy response for rectal cancer by peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (CRT) has become a standard procedure to downstage locally advanced rectal cancer prior to surgery, markers to predict the response to CRT have not been fully identified. The aim of this study was to identify predictive factors of response to CRT, especially focusing on peripheral blood leukocyte subsets.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 45 consecutive patients diagnosed with primary rectal cancer were prospectively enrolled and received CRT followed by curative resection. The numbers of each lymphocyte subset in peripheral blood pre- and post-CRT were analyzed using flow cytometry. According to the pathological response to CRT, patients were classified into high (Hi-R) and low (Lo-R) response groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hi-R cases had significantly higher numbers of pre-CRT lymphocytes (p = 0.018), T lymphocytes (p = 0.009) and helper T lymphocytes (Th lymphocytes, p = 0.015) compared to the Lo-R cases. With the receiver-operating characteristic curve for numbers of pre-CRT T lymphocytes, the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.733, and the optimal cutoff value was 1196/μl, with 76.5% sensitivity, 67.8% specificity, 59.1% positive and 82.6% negative predictive values. The numbers of pre-CRT Th lymphocytes and cytotoxic lymphocytes were both independent predictors of the high CRT response in the multivariate analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In addition to the direct cytotoxicity of CRT, recent studies have demonstrated the induction of an immunological host response, which also contributed to the tumor regression induced by CRT. Our result suggested the potential role of circulating T lymphocytes in predicting the response to CRT in colorectal cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan. tadanoriko520317@yahoo.co.jp.
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tada
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan. kz-kawai@mvd.biglobe.ne.jp.
authors.forename: Kazushige
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawai
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan. tsuno-tky@umin.net.|Department of Transfusion Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan. tsuno-tky@umin.net.
authors.forename: Nelson H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Tsuno
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan. sochan31@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Soichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ishihara
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan. yamaguchih-tky@umin.net.
authors.forename: Hironori
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan. eijisunami@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Eiji
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sunami
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan. kitayama-1SU@h.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Joji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kitayama
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan. oba@epistat.m.u-tokyo.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oba
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, the University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan. toshwatanabe@yahoo.co.jp.
authors.forename: Toshiaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000556:secondary* / Q000628:therapy; D002288:Adenocarcinoma, Mucinous / Q000556:secondary* / Q000628:therapy; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019540:Area Under Curve; D059248:Chemoradiotherapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D020360:Neoadjuvant Therapy; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D015996:Survival Rate