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Updated: Jul 4, 2025
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Isolation and Flow Cytometric Analysis of Glioma-infiltrating Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells
Published on: November 28, 2015
15.8K
The immunological landscape of peripheral blood in glioblastoma patients and immunological consequences of age and
Sophie A Dusoswa1,2, Jan Verhoeff1, Saskia van Asten1
1Department of Molecular Cell Biology and Immunology, Amsterdam Infection and Immunity Institute, Cancer Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam UMC, VU Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Frontiers in Immunology
|February 6, 2024
Summary
Glioblastoma alters peripheral immune cells, with age and dexamethasone impacting T cells and B cells. These changes suggest immunotherapy may be less effective in patients undergoing these treatments.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Neuro-oncology
- Flow Cytometry
Background:
- Glioblastoma (GBM) extensively manipulates the immune system, but peripheral blood immune changes are understudied.
- The impact of patient age and dexamethasone on immunotherapy efficacy in GBM is unclear.
- This study investigates peripheral blood immune composition in brain tumor patients to understand these influences.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare peripheral blood immune cell composition across different brain tumor types.
- To determine the influence of age, dexamethasone treatment, and tumor volume on immune cell populations.
- To identify immune cell correlates of survival in brain tumor patients.
Main Methods:
- High-dimensional mass cytometry analyzed peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 169 brain tumor patients and controls.
- FlowSOM and t-SNE algorithms performed immune phenotyping, followed by supervised annotation.
- Multiple linear regression and Cox regression analyses assessed relationships between pathology, immune cells, and survival.
Main Results:
- Glioblastoma patients showed reduced naive CD4+ T cells and increased mature NK cells compared to controls.
- Age and dexamethasone affected naive CD8+ T cells, alternative monocytes, and memory B cells; tumor volume impacted memory B cells.
- Progression-free survival correlated with CD4+ regulatory T cells and double-negative T cells.
Conclusions:
- Mass cytometry reveals significant peripheral immune alterations in brain tumor patients.
- Age and dexamethasone induce broad immunosuppression, potentially hindering immunotherapy effectiveness.
- Peripheral immune profiling offers insights into brain tumor pathology and treatment response.
