Acupuncture potentiates anti-PD-1 efficacy by promoting CD5+ dentritic cells and T cell-mediated tumor immunity in breast cancer

Acupuncture has been considered as an available complement therapy against various malignancy cancer by regulating immunity. However, it is not clear whether acupuncture influences the antitumor immune efficacy of PD-1 inhibitor. This study evaluates the efficacy of acupuncture combined with PD-1 inhibitor on the antitumor immune response against breast cancer and revealed the potential molecular mechanisms based on RNA-Seq transcriptome analysis. The results depicted that acupuncture combined with PD-1 inhibitor significantly hindered tumor development by inducing tumor cell apoptosis and inhibiting tumor growth, angiogenesis and metastasis. RNA-Seq analysis indicated that the different expression genes upon acupuncture intervention mainly enriched in immune response, T cell activation and cytokine interaction etc. items containing immune cell-related CD genes (CD5, CD4 and CD8 etc.). Acupuncture stimulation enhanced CD5 expression that had a positive correlation with overall survival of breast cancer patients. The improved immunity including the enhancement of CD5+ dendritic cell, CD4+ and CD8+ T cell content as well as various cytokine (IL-2, IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ) secretion in serum was found upon acupuncture combination with PD-1 inhibitor treatment. Taken together, present work reveals that acupuncture intervention promotes the antitumor immune response of PD-1 inhibitor, providing a prospective therapy for ICI therapy against breast cancer. To evaluate the therapeutic effect of acupuncture combined with PD-1 inhibitor on anti-tumor immune response of breast cancer, we revealed its potential molecular mechanism based on RNA-Seq transcriptome analysis. The results indicated that acupuncture combined with PD-1 inhibitors significantly hindered tumor development by inducing tumor cell apoptosis and inhibiting tumor growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis. RNA-Seq analysis revealed that the differentially expressed genes upon acupuncture intervention were mainly enriched in immune response, T cell activation, and cytokine interaction, involving immune cell-related CD genes (e.g., CD5, CD4, and CD8).