Experimental supporting data on the influence of platelet-derived factors of malignant pleural effusions on T cell effector functions and their relevance in predicting prognosis of lung adenocarcinoma patients with pleural metastasis

The data described in this article are supplementary to our primary article “Platelet factor 4 regulates T cell effector functions in malignant pleural effusions”. Malignant pleural effusion (MPE) is a common complication of advanced lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) associated with a poor life expectancy [1]. Several challenges need to be addressed to identify non-invasive molecular biomarkers that help to predict the prognosis of LAC patients with MPE [2]. In the primary publication, we proposed that platelet-derived factors, especially platelet factor 4 (PF4), can negatively regulate T lymphocyte activation and granzyme B expression in pleural metastasis and its levels were associated with a worse prognosis. Here, we provide data on the influence of other platelet-derived factors, including transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), vascular endothelial factor (VEGF), and P-selectin on T lymphocyte response in MPE and their relevance as prognostic factors in lung cancer patients with pleural metastasis. Pleural fluids from 35 lung adenocarcinoma (LAC) and 20 heart failure (HF) patients were collected by thoracentesis and its platelet-derived factors’ content was measured by specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISAs). Correlations between pleural levels of platelet-derived factors and T cell functions were analyzed by Pearson coefficients. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to estimate the effect of pleural concentrations of platelet-derived factors on overall survival of LAC patients with pleural metastasis. These analyses showed that the concentration of platelet-derived factors was not associated with T cell proliferation and cytotoxicity. Furthermore, their levels do not predict the survival of LAC with MPE.