Int J Med Sci 2024; 21(5):795-808. doi:10.7150/ijms.93262 This issue Cite
Research Paper
1. Department of Clinical Laboratory, Stomatology Hospital, School of Stomatology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Zhejiang Provincial Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedical Research of Zhejiang Province, Cancer Center of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310006, China.
2. Department of Pathology, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, China.
3. Department of Clinical Laboratory, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310009, China.
*Mengting Chen and Xiaotian Yan should be considered joint first author.
Background: Inducible co-stimulator (ICOS) shows great potential in the regulation of innate and adaptive immunity. However, previous studies of ICOS have often been limited to one or two levels.
Methods: Using the data from the online database, the immunohistochemistry, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, we investigated the role of ICOS / PD-L1 on patients with NSCLC at the mRNA, protein, and serum levels.
Results: Our data revealed that unlike most solid tumors, the mRNA expression of ICOS was down-regulated in NSCLC. In addition, our data also showed that mRNA expression levels in ICOS are negatively associated with poor clinicopathologic grading but positively associated with better prognostic outcomes and higher Tregs infiltration level. Immunohistochemistry showed that ICOS correlated negatively with the T stage; while PD-L1 levels correlated positively with the N stage and FOXP3 levels. Serological biomarker analysis showed that patients with NSCLC had lower sICOS levels, which increased significantly post-surgery, and combined sICOS and sPD-L1 diagnosis improved efficacy and accuracy of disease diagnosis.
Conclusion: Our findings support that ICOS suggests lower pathological staging and better prognosis. ICOS is a potential diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for NSCLC.
Keywords: ICOS, NSCLC, immune infiltration, immunohistochemistry, PD-L1, soluble ICOS/PD-L1