Peripheral blood TCRbeta repertoire, IL15, IL2 and soluble ligands for NKG2D activating receptor predict the efficacy of ICI in lung cancer

The development of immune checkpoints inhibitors (ICIs) has changed the therapeutic paradigm of lung cancer (LC), becoming the standard of treatment for previously untreated advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without actionable mutations. It has allowed the achievement of durable responses and resulted in significant survival benefits. However, not all patients respond, hence molecular biomarkers are needed to help us predict which patients will respond to immunotherapy and which will not, thus avoiding toxicities and unnecessary treatments. With this objective, a prospective observational study was designed, including a cohort of 55 patients with NSCLC who received ICIs. We studied whether biomarkers such as TCRbeta and specific cytokines or soluble factors involved in the regulation of T cell activity were related to the immunotherapy response (IT).