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Published on: January 3, 2013
Anti-PD-1 Autoantibody Predicts Survival of Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinoma Receiving Atezolizumab/Bevacizumab
Yuki Sasaki1, Kazuyuki Matsumoto1, Akinobu Takaki1
1Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan.
Background And Aims:
Methods for predicting therapeutic response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer therapy are in high demand. In patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), atezolizumab (anti-programmed cell death-ligand 1 [PD-L1]) and bevacizumab (anti-vascular endothelial growth factor) combination therapy (Atezo/Bev therapy) is a first-line treatment. However, no reliable biomarkers are currently available to predict its efficacy. Here, we examined serum anti-PD-1 autoantibody levels as candidate biomarkers.
Methods:
We prospectively enrolled 63 patients with advanced HCC who received Atezo/Bev therapy. Serum anti-PD-1 autoantibody levels were measured before treatment using an indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The correlation between the titers and response to therapy was statistically examined.
Results:
Serum anti-PD-1 autoantibody levels were not significantly associated with the treatment response in any patient. However, when examining only patients who received the Atezo/Bev as their first-line therapy, higher anti-PD-1 autoantibody levels were significantly associated with worse overall survival rates. The titer was an independent risk factor for poor prognosis (odds ratio [OR] = 7.8, P = .013), in addition to a higher neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (OR = 7.1, P = .009) and lower albumin levels (OR = 14.2, P = .003).
Conclusion:
Serum anti-PD-1 autoantibody levels correlated with the overall survival rate in patients who received Atezo/Bev as first-line therapy. Serum anti-PD-1 autoantibody levels may serve as new biomarkers for predicting the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with HCC.
