Multi-omics analysis reveals the sensitivity of immunotherapy for unresectable non-small cell lung cancer

To construct a prediction model consisting of metabolites and proteins in peripheral blood plasma to predict whether patients with unresectable stage III and IV non-small cell lung cancer can benefit from immunotherapy before it is administered.

Peripheral blood plasma was collected from unresectable stage III and IV non-small cell lung cancer patients who were negative for driver mutations before receiving immunotherapy. Then we classified samples according to the follow-up results after two courses of immunotherapy and non-targeted metabolomics and proteomics analyses were performed to select different metabolites and proteins. Finally, potential biomarkers were picked out by applying machine learning methods including random forest and stepwise regression and prediction models were constructed by logistic regression.

The presence of metabolites and proteins in peripheral blood plasma was causally associated with both non-small cell lung cancer and PD-L1/PD-1 expression levels. A total of 2 differential metabolites including 5-sulfooxymethylfurfural and Anthranilic acid and 2 differential proteins including Immunoglobulin heavy variable 1-45 and Microfibril-associated glycoprotein 4 were selected as reliable biomarkers. The area under the curve (AUC) of the prediction model built on clinical risks was merely 0.659. The AUC of metabolomics prediction model was 0.977 and the AUC of proteomics was 0.875 while the AUC of the integrative-omics prediction model was 0.955.

Metabolic and protein biomarkers in peripheral blood both have high efficacy and reliability in the prediction of immunotherapy sensitivity in unresectable stage III and IV non-small cell lung cancer, but validation in larger population-based cohorts is still needed.