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Updated: Jun 19, 2026

In Vitro Tumor Cell Rechallenge For Predictive Evaluation of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cell Antitumor Function
Published on: February 27, 2019
Baseline Blood CD8+ T Cell Activation Potency Discriminates Responders from Non-Responders to Immune Checkpoint
Hanneke Kievit1, M Benthe Muntinghe-Wagenaar1, Wayel H Abdulahad2
1Department of Pulmonology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, 9713 GZ Groningen, The Netherlands.
Background:
Tumor-infiltrating immune cells have been correlated with prognosis for patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment of various cancers. However, no robust biomarker has been described to predict treatment response yet. We hypothesized that the activation potency of circulating T cells may predict response to ICI treatment.
Methods:
An exploratory analysis was conducted to investigate the association between the response to immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) combined with stereotactic radiotherapy (SBRT) and the potency of circulating T cells to be activated. Blood-derived lymphocytes from 14 patients were stimulated ex vivo with, among others, Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) and compared to healthy controls (HCs). Patients were grouped into responders (>median progression free survival (PFS)) and non-responders (
Results:
At baseline, a higher percentage of activated CD8+ T cells (15.8% vs. 3.5% (p = <0.01)) and IL-2+CD69+CD8+ T cells (8.8% vs. 2.9% (p = 0.02)) was observed in responders compared to non-responders upon ex vivo stimulation with SEB. The concurrently measured serum cytokine levels were not different between responders and non-responders.
Conclusion:
Baseline blood CD8+ T cell activation potency, measured by intracellular cytokine production after ex vivo stimulation, is a potential biomarker to discriminate responders from non-responders to SBRT combined with ICI.
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