Epirubicin-based chemotherapy suppresses lymphocytes whereas docetaxel maintains their number and function
INFILTRATION
The differential blood count showed a strong decrease of lymphocytes in patients treated with the initial four cycles of EC (from 1.57 × 10Lymphocytes may be regulated by a variety of different cytokines, chemokines and other immunomodulatory factors. Hence, we investigated such molecules in our patient collective. For this purpose, 81 patients of the “lymphocyte function & infiltration” subset were further selected for the “immunoassay” subgroup. Fourteen above mentioned factors were measured in blood samples at baseline, midterm and at surgery. Five factors (uPA, CXCL10, sTNFSF10, suPAR, and CCL8) reacted differently to EC as compared to D (see Table Parameter changes between baseline and midterm in patients with conventional (CON) or reverse (REV) NAC. A stronger decrease of some parameters was observed in patients undergoing four cycles of NAC containing epirubicin when compared to patients undergoing four cycles of docetaxel. M = midterm; B = baseline; N = number of patients, min = minimum; max = maximumTaken together, these data show that the treatment of BC patients with EC reduces B cells, T cells and several soluble immunomodulatory factors in the peripheral blood. Treatment with D, in contrast, maintains lymphocyte number and function, even an increase of some soluble factors in response to D was observable, suggesting that this treatment might have greater inductive potential on immune signaling.