Neutrophil count is associated with myeloid derived suppressor cell level and presents prognostic value for hepatocellular carcinoma patients

// Xing Li 1, 2, 3 , Yan-Fang Xing 4 , Ai-Hua Lei 1, 2 , Qiang Xiao 1, 2 , Zhi-Huan Lin 3 , Ying-Fen Hong 3 , Xiang-Yuan Wu 3 , Jie Zhou 1, 2 1 Program in Immunology, Affiliated Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China 2 Institute of Human Virology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China 3 Department of Medical Oncology and Guangdong Key Laboratory of Liver Disease, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China 4 Department of Nephrology, the Third Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, China Correspondence to: Xiang-Yuan Wu, email: wuxiangy@mail.sysu.edu.cn Jie Zhou, email: zhouj72@mail.sysu.edu.cn Keywords: neutrophil counts, hepatocellular carcinoma, patient selection, prognosis, myeloid derived suppressor cell Received: October 07, 2016      Accepted: February 06, 2017      Published: February 17, 2017 ABSTRACT Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cell (MDSC) has been raised to be a novel target for multiple cancers. However, target agents on MDSC have not display promising efficacy. One of the critical reasons shall be less optimal patient selection. In the present study, we aimed to identify clinical parameters relevant to MDSC level in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients for future MDSC targeted therapy. In the present study, a series of 55 HCC patients (testing group) and 20 healthy donors were analyzed investigating frequencies of MDSC in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). As a result, we found that MDSC level was increased in HCC patients compared to healthy donors (10.33% vs 1.54%, p < 0.0001). The monocytes (r 2 = 0.2875, p < 0.0001), neutrophils (r 2 = 0.3630, p < 0.0001) and platelet counts (r 2 = 0.0828, p = 0.0331) in circulation was positively associated with MDSC level. Then, the prognostic value of the above predictors was determined in a retrospective database of 255 HCC patients (validation group). The baseline characteristics of testing and validation group were similar. Multivariate analysis by Cox regression revealed that neutrophil count was an independent predictor for overall survival (OS) ( p = 0.000, HR 1.065, 95% CI 1.028–1.103), with the rest parameters failed to reach a significant result. In summary, the present study firstly identified blood neutrophil counts was a predictor of MDSC level in PBMC for HCC patients. And, patients with higher neutrophil count level might be the optimal patient subgroup for MDSC targeted therapy.