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High serum IL-6 correlates with reduced clinical benefit of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND & AIMS: We elucidated the clinical and immunologic implications of serum IL-6 levels in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with atezolizumab and bevacizumab (Ate/Bev). METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 165 patients with unresectable HCC (discovery cohor...

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Autores principales: Yang, Hannah, Kang, Beodeul, Ha, Yeonjung, Lee, Sung Hwan, Kim, Ilhwan, Kim, Hyeyeong, Lee, Won Suk, Kim, Gwangil, Jung, Sanghoon, Rha, Sun Young, Gaillard, Vincent E., Cheon, Jaekyung, Kim, Chan, Chon, Hong Jae
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9972403/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36866388
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhepr.2023.100672
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author Yang, Hannah
Kang, Beodeul
Ha, Yeonjung
Lee, Sung Hwan
Kim, Ilhwan
Kim, Hyeyeong
Lee, Won Suk
Kim, Gwangil
Jung, Sanghoon
Rha, Sun Young
Gaillard, Vincent E.
Cheon, Jaekyung
Kim, Chan
Chon, Hong Jae
author_facet Yang, Hannah
Kang, Beodeul
Ha, Yeonjung
Lee, Sung Hwan
Kim, Ilhwan
Kim, Hyeyeong
Lee, Won Suk
Kim, Gwangil
Jung, Sanghoon
Rha, Sun Young
Gaillard, Vincent E.
Cheon, Jaekyung
Kim, Chan
Chon, Hong Jae
author_sort Yang, Hannah
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND & AIMS: We elucidated the clinical and immunologic implications of serum IL-6 levels in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with atezolizumab and bevacizumab (Ate/Bev). METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 165 patients with unresectable HCC (discovery cohort: 84 patients from three centres; validation cohort: 81 patients from one centre). Baseline blood samples were analysed using a flow cytometric bead array. The tumour immune microenvironment was analysed using RNA sequencing. RESULTS: In the discovery cohort, clinical benefit 6 months (CB(6m)) was defined as complete or partial response, or stable disease for ≥6 months. Among various blood-based biomarkers, serum IL-6 levels were significantly higher in participants without CB(6m) than in those with CB(6m) (mean 11.56 vs. 5.05 pg/ml, p = 0.02). Using maximally selected rank statistics, the optimal cut-off value for high IL-6 was determined as 18.49 pg/ml, and 15.2% of participants were found to have high IL-6 levels at baseline. In both the discovery and validation cohorts, participants with high baseline IL-6 levels had a reduced response rate and worse progression-free and overall survival after Ate/Bev treatment compared with those with low baseline IL-6 levels. In multivariable Cox regression analysis, the clinical implications of high IL-6 levels persisted, even after adjusting for various confounding factors. Participants with high IL-6 levels showed reduced interferon-γ and tumour necrosis factor-α secretion from CD8(+) T cells. Moreover, excess IL-6 suppressed cytokine production and proliferation of CD8(+) T cells. Finally, participants with high IL-6 levels exhibited a non-T-cell-inflamed immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment. CONCLUSIONS: High baseline IL-6 levels can be associated with poor clinical outcomes and impaired T-cell function in patients with unresectable HCC after Ate/Bev treatment. IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS: Although patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who respond to treatment with atezolizumab and bevacizumab exhibit favourable clinical outcomes, a fraction of these still experience primary resistance. We found that high baseline serum levels of IL-6 correlate with poor clinical outcomes and impaired T-cell response in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma treated with atezolizumab and bevacizumab.
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spelling pubmed-99724032023-03-01 High serum IL-6 correlates with reduced clinical benefit of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma Yang, Hannah Kang, Beodeul Ha, Yeonjung Lee, Sung Hwan Kim, Ilhwan Kim, Hyeyeong Lee, Won Suk Kim, Gwangil Jung, Sanghoon Rha, Sun Young Gaillard, Vincent E. Cheon, Jaekyung Kim, Chan Chon, Hong Jae JHEP Rep Research Article BACKGROUND & AIMS: We elucidated the clinical and immunologic implications of serum IL-6 levels in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with atezolizumab and bevacizumab (Ate/Bev). METHODS: We prospectively enrolled 165 patients with unresectable HCC (discovery cohort: 84 patients from three centres; validation cohort: 81 patients from one centre). Baseline blood samples were analysed using a flow cytometric bead array. The tumour immune microenvironment was analysed using RNA sequencing. RESULTS: In the discovery cohort, clinical benefit 6 months (CB(6m)) was defined as complete or partial response, or stable disease for ≥6 months. Among various blood-based biomarkers, serum IL-6 levels were significantly higher in participants without CB(6m) than in those with CB(6m) (mean 11.56 vs. 5.05 pg/ml, p = 0.02). Using maximally selected rank statistics, the optimal cut-off value for high IL-6 was determined as 18.49 pg/ml, and 15.2% of participants were found to have high IL-6 levels at baseline. In both the discovery and validation cohorts, participants with high baseline IL-6 levels had a reduced response rate and worse progression-free and overall survival after Ate/Bev treatment compared with those with low baseline IL-6 levels. In multivariable Cox regression analysis, the clinical implications of high IL-6 levels persisted, even after adjusting for various confounding factors. Participants with high IL-6 levels showed reduced interferon-γ and tumour necrosis factor-α secretion from CD8(+) T cells. Moreover, excess IL-6 suppressed cytokine production and proliferation of CD8(+) T cells. Finally, participants with high IL-6 levels exhibited a non-T-cell-inflamed immunosuppressive tumour microenvironment. CONCLUSIONS: High baseline IL-6 levels can be associated with poor clinical outcomes and impaired T-cell function in patients with unresectable HCC after Ate/Bev treatment. IMPACT AND IMPLICATIONS: Although patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who respond to treatment with atezolizumab and bevacizumab exhibit favourable clinical outcomes, a fraction of these still experience primary resistance. We found that high baseline serum levels of IL-6 correlate with poor clinical outcomes and impaired T-cell response in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma treated with atezolizumab and bevacizumab. Elsevier 2023-01-16 /pmc/articles/PMC9972403/ /pubmed/36866388 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhepr.2023.100672 Text en © 2023 The Author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Research Article
Yang, Hannah
Kang, Beodeul
Ha, Yeonjung
Lee, Sung Hwan
Kim, Ilhwan
Kim, Hyeyeong
Lee, Won Suk
Kim, Gwangil
Jung, Sanghoon
Rha, Sun Young
Gaillard, Vincent E.
Cheon, Jaekyung
Kim, Chan
Chon, Hong Jae
High serum IL-6 correlates with reduced clinical benefit of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma
title High serum IL-6 correlates with reduced clinical benefit of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma
title_full High serum IL-6 correlates with reduced clinical benefit of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma
title_fullStr High serum IL-6 correlates with reduced clinical benefit of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma
title_full_unstemmed High serum IL-6 correlates with reduced clinical benefit of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma
title_short High serum IL-6 correlates with reduced clinical benefit of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma
title_sort high serum il-6 correlates with reduced clinical benefit of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9972403/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36866388
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhepr.2023.100672
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