These results suggested that TGF-1 plays a negative role in the clinical efficacy of patients after the treatment of cetuximab combined with chemotherapy. compared by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The correlation of the switch of immune parameter expression after treatment and clinical efficacy was examined by chi-square assessments. The correlation of the expression of immune factors, clinical efficacy, and treatment number Myricetin (Cannabiscetin) was examined by the Spearmans correlation analysis. Results There was no significant difference Myricetin (Cannabiscetin) between the expression of TGF-1 before and after the treatment ( 0.05). The switch of TGF-1 expression after treatment significantly correlated negatively with clinical efficacy (= 0.05). As for CD8, IL-2, VEGF, and TNF-, there were no significant differences between the expression before and after the treatment ( 0.05), and the switch of expression after treatment also did not correlate significantly with clinical efficacy ( 0.05). The switch of IL-2 expression after treatment significantly correlated negatively with treatment number (correlation coefficient = -0.585, = 0.046). The switch of TGF-1 expression after treatment significantly correlated negatively with clinical efficacy (correlation coefficient = -0.684, = 0.014). Before treatment, the expression of TNF- significantly correlated positively with the expression of IL-2 (correlation coefficient = 0.629, = 0.028). After treatment, the expression of TGF-1 Myricetin (Cannabiscetin) significantly correlated negatively with the expression of CD8 (correlation coefficient = -0.664, = 0.019). Conclusions These results suggested that, in the tumor environment, the switch of immune factors after treatment of cetuximab combined with chemotherapy may be associated with clinical efficacy. value 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results The general and clinicopathological characteristics of the 12 patients were shown in Table?1. As shown in Table?2, six of 12 patients (50%) showed increase in the expression of TGF- after treatment, five of 12 patients (42%) showed no switch (stable), and only one patient (8%) showed decrease. In the six patients who showed increase in the expression of TGF- after treatment, four showed PD and two showed PR. In the five patients who showed no switch, four showed PR and one showed SD. After statistical Myricetin (Cannabiscetin) analysis (Table?3), there was no significant difference between the expression of TGF-1 before and after the treatment (Wilcoxon signed-rank assessments, 0.05). The switch of TGF-1 expression after treatment significantly correlated negatively with clinical efficacy (Chi-square assessments, 2 = 6.000, = Myricetin (Cannabiscetin) 0.05). One hundred percent (1/1) of the patients were clinically beneficial when the expression of TGF-1 decreased, whereas 33.33% (2/6) of the patients were Rabbit Polyclonal to NPM clinically beneficial when the expression of TGF-1 increased. Table 2 The expression of TGF-1 before and after treatment 0.05, data not shown). Furthermore, the switch of immune parameter expression after treatment did not significantly correlate with clinical efficacy (Chi-square assessments, 0.05, data not shown). The correlation of the switch of immune parameter expression after treatment (CD8, IL-2, VEGF, TNF-, and TGF-), clinical efficacy and treatment number was examined by the Spearmans correlation analysis (Furniture?4, ?,5,5, ?,6).6). The switch of IL-2 expression after treatment significantly correlated negatively with treatment number (correlation coefficient = -0.585, = 0.046). The switch of TGF-1 expression after treatment significantly correlated negatively with clinical efficacy (correlation coefficient = -0.684, = 0.014). Before treatment, the expression of TNF- significantly correlated positively with the expression of IL-2 (correlation coefficient = 0.629, = 0.028). After treatment, the expression of TGF-1 significantly correlated negatively with the expression of CD8 (correlation coefficient = -0.664, = 0.019). As for CD8, VEGF, and TNF-, the correlation of the switch of immune parameter expression after treatment (CD8, IL-2, VEGF, TNF-, and TGF-), clinical efficacy and treatment number is not significant ( 0.05). Table 4 The correlation of switch of expression of immune factors, clinical efficacy, and treatment number was examined by the Spearmans correlation analysis valuevaluevaluevaluevaluevalue 0.05. Table 5 The correlation of expression of immune factors and clinical efficacy before treatment was examined by the Spearmans correlation analysis valuevaluevaluevaluevalue 0.05. Table 6 The correlation of the expression of immune factors after treatment was examined by the Spearmans correlation analysis valuevaluevaluevalue 0.05. Conversation The effect of chemotherapy combined with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) around the immune state of the tumor environment remains unclear and controversial. In this study, we examined the effect of chemotherapy combined with cetuximab around the immune state of the tumor environment, and the correlation of that effect and the clinical efficacy. The results showed that in the tumor environment, the switch of immune factors before and after the treatment of cetuximab combined with chemotherapy may be associated with clinical efficacy and treatment number. TGF-, a potent immunosuppressive cytokine that can inhibit the immune system, can promote the development, invasion and metastasis of tumors [13]. TGF- is usually overexpressed in various.