Effect of PD-1 inhibitor combined with chemotherapy on cytokines and immune cell function in patients with advanced lung cancer

Effect of PD-1 inhibitor combined with chemotherapy on cytokines and immune cell function in patients with advanced lung cancer | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Effect of PD-1 inhibitor combined with chemotherapy on cytokines and immune cell function in patients with advanced lung cancer Chenxin Zhang, Jiqing Hao This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9020342/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Objective To investigate the regulatory effects of PD-1 inhibitor combined with chemotherapy on peripheral blood cytokine levels and immune cell function in patients with advanced lung cancer. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on patients with advanced lung cancer admitted to our hospital from January 2022 to May 2025, including 68 cases in the combination therapy group (PD-1 inhibitor combined with pemetrexed/paclitaxel-based chemotherapy) and 34 cases in the chemotherapy group. Among the combination therapy group, there were 46 cases of lung adenocarcinoma and 22 cases of lung squamous cell carcinoma; in the chemotherapy group, there were 24 cases of lung adenocarcinoma and 10 cases of lung squamous cell carcinoma. The combination therapy group received a chemotherapy regimen based on pemetrexed/paclitaxel, combined with sintilimab, camrelizumab, or tislelizumab (all at 200 mg per cycle), while the chemotherapy group received only chemotherapy. Both groups were treated for more than 2 cycles, with 3 weeks as one cycle. Peripheral blood T-cell subsets, NK cell-related indicators, and serum cytokine levels were measured before treatment and after 2 cycles of treatment in both groups, and changes and intergroup differences were analyzed. Results After treatment, immune cell-related indicators (CD3+%, CD3 + CD8+%, NK cell proportion, etc.) and cytokine levels (e.g., elevated IL-2, decreased IL-6 and IL-8) in both groups showed significant improvement compared to pre-treatment levels (P < 0.05), but the improvement in the combination therapy group was significantly greater than that in the chemotherapy group (P < 0.05). Subgroup analysis revealed that the increase in CD3 + CD8+% was higher in lung squamous cell carcinoma patients than in lung adenocarcinoma patients in the combination therapy group (P 0.05). Conclusion The combination of PD-1 inhibitors and chemotherapy improves immune cell function and positively regulates cytokines in advanced lung cancer patients more effectively than chemotherapy alone. This approach demonstrates favorable immunomodulatory effects across different pathological types and EGFR-TKI-resistant patients, potentially providing a basis for precision therapy. Relevant immune and cytokine markers may serve as potential predictive biomarkers for treatment efficacy and prognosis. PD-1 inhibitor chemotherapy advanced lung cancer cytokines immune cell function Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9020342","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":613162563,"identity":"c680fdba-9ca2-4438-8509-084640303cc1","order_by":0,"name":"Chenxin Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Anhui Medical University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chenxin","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":613162564,"identity":"f828e9ae-70e3-451f-9d86-446c0af8fc27","order_by":1,"name":"Jiqing Hao","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA40lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACAxBOYJBgYGBvYIMIHSBaC88BErRAgEQCkVrM2Q8fKHhQZpEnH/n42aObbQxyfDcSGD8X4NFi2ZOWYJBwTqLY8HaauXFuG4Ox5I0EZukZ+Bx2IMfAILFNInHj7AQzaaCWxA03EtiYefBpOf8GqmXm8W8gLfWEtdyA2jJfggdsS4IBYS3PwH5J3MCTUyadc07CcOaZh83S+B2WfMzwR1ld4vz249ukc8ps5PmOJx/8jE8LELAZMLCBwgHMAcYpA2MDfg0MDMwPQFrkCaobBaNgFIyCEQsA0bJM561VLDkAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jiqing","middleName":"","lastName":"Hao","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-03 12:39:06","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9020342/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9020342/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105908678,"identity":"41962ca8-67c7-4e33-9dc3-53e913e7718b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-01 10:39:09","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":603902,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"EffectofPD1inhibitorcombinedwithchemotherapyoncytokinesandimmunecellfunctioninpatientswithadvancedlungcancer.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9020342/v1_covered_4b70aa21-bc7b-4b2e-af5c-476dac0393f0.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Effect of PD-1 inhibitor combined with chemotherapy on cytokines and immune cell function in patients with advanced lung cancer","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"PD-1 inhibitor, chemotherapy, advanced lung cancer, cytokines, immune cell function","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9020342/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9020342/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eObjective\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo investigate the regulatory effects of PD-1 inhibitor combined with chemotherapy on peripheral blood cytokine levels and immune cell function in patients with advanced lung cancer.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eA retrospective study was conducted on patients with advanced lung cancer admitted to our hospital from January 2022 to May 2025, including 68 cases in the combination therapy group (PD-1 inhibitor combined with pemetrexed/paclitaxel-based chemotherapy) and 34 cases in the chemotherapy group. Among the combination therapy group, there were 46 cases of lung adenocarcinoma and 22 cases of lung squamous cell carcinoma; in the chemotherapy group, there were 24 cases of lung adenocarcinoma and 10 cases of lung squamous cell carcinoma. The combination therapy group received a chemotherapy regimen based on pemetrexed/paclitaxel, combined with sintilimab, camrelizumab, or tislelizumab (all at 200 mg per cycle), while the chemotherapy group received only chemotherapy. Both groups were treated for more than 2 cycles, with 3 weeks as one cycle. Peripheral blood T-cell subsets, NK cell-related indicators, and serum cytokine levels were measured before treatment and after 2 cycles of treatment in both groups, and changes and intergroup differences were analyzed.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAfter treatment, immune cell-related indicators (CD3+%, CD3\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;CD8+%, NK cell proportion, etc.) and cytokine levels (e.g., elevated IL-2, decreased IL-6 and IL-8) in both groups showed significant improvement compared to pre-treatment levels (P\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05), but the improvement in the combination therapy group was significantly greater than that in the chemotherapy group (P\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05). Subgroup analysis revealed that the increase in CD3\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;CD8+% was higher in lung squamous cell carcinoma patients than in lung adenocarcinoma patients in the combination therapy group (P\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05), and EGFR-TKI resistance and driver gene negativity were also observed.There was no significant difference in the decline of IL-6 levels among patients (P\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;0.05).\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusion\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe combination of PD-1 inhibitors and chemotherapy improves immune cell function and positively regulates cytokines in advanced lung cancer patients more effectively than chemotherapy alone. This approach demonstrates favorable immunomodulatory effects across different pathological types and EGFR-TKI-resistant patients, potentially providing a basis for precision therapy. Relevant immune and cytokine markers may serve as potential predictive biomarkers for treatment efficacy and prognosis.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Effect of PD-1 inhibitor combined with chemotherapy on cytokines and immune cell function in patients with advanced lung cancer","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-03-31 11:27:57","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9020342/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"8f6597cc-0454-44a2-8a55-92109c4d1d48","owner":[],"postedDate":"March 31st, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-01T10:11:18+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-03-31 11:27:57","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9020342","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9020342","identity":"rs-9020342","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}