Immune Cell Infiltration of the Primary Tumor Microenvironment Predicted the Treatment Outcome of Chemotherapy With or Without Bevacizumab in Metastatic Colorectal Cancer Patients

BACKGROUND: With the interest in cancer immunotherapy, it may be possible to combine immunotherapy with bevacizumab and chemotherapy. We evaluated whether tumor-infiltrating immune cells are associated with the efficacy of chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab for the treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC). METHODS: This study enrolled mCRC patients on standard treatment with available detailed data and tumor tissue at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center between July 1, 2005, and October 1, 2017. CD3+ and CD8+ T cell densities examined by immunohistochemistry in both the tumor core (CT) and invasive margin (IM) were summed as the Immunoscore, and the CD8+/CD3+ T cell ratio was calculated. The predictive and prognostic efficacies of tumor-infiltrating immune cells for progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were analyzed with Kaplan-Meier and Cox analyses. RESULTS: The CD8+/CD3+ T cell ratio in the microenvironment was an independent prognostic factor for OS (28.12 mo vs. 16.56 mo, P = 0.017) among the 108 studied patients. In the chemotherapy only group, patients with a high Immunoscore had a high overall response rate (ORR, 40.0% vs. 60.0%, P = 0.022), those with a low CD8+/CD3+ T cell ratio in the microenvironment had a significantly longer PFS (8.64 mo vs. 6.01 mo, P = 0.017), and those with a high CD3+ T cell density in the CT had a longer OS (16.56 mo vs. 25.66 mo, P = 0.029). In the chemotherapy combined with bevacizumab group, patients with a higher CD8+ T cell density in the IM had a longer PFS (7.62 mo vs. 11.66 mo, P = 0.034) and OS (14.55 mo vs. 23.72 mo, P = 0.033). CONCLUSION: Immune cells in primary tumors play an important role in predicting mCRC treatment efficacy. CD8 predicts the effect of bevacizumab plus chemotherapy, while CD3 and CD8/CD3 predict chemotherapy efficacy.