Clinical application of thymic neoadjuvant immunotherapy in improving
immune function and quality of life during concurrent radiotherapy and
chemotherapy in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Abstract
Background:Simultaneous radiotherapy and chemotherapy are the
core treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma; however, the damage caused
by this treatment can seriously affect immune function and quality of
life of patients. These effects may lead to treatment interruption,
ultimately impacting treatment effectiveness. Methods: This
retrospective study analyzed the role of thymic neoadjuvant
immunotherapy in improving the immune function and quality of life in
patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma undergoing concurrent
radiotherapy and chemotherapy between January and December 2023. Among
24 patients (14 men and 10 women, median age 53 years), the pathological
type was non-keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma, undifferentiated,
with staging ranging from T2N1 to T3N0M0 (stage II–III). All patients
were administered concurrent radiochemotherapy and were randomly
assigned into two groups based on whether thymus neoadjuvant therapy was
administered. The experimental group included 12 patients who received
thymic neoadjuvant immunotherapy during radiotherapy and chemotherapy
until within 3 months of the end of the treatment. The control group
comprised 12 patients who did not receive thymic neoadjuvant therapy
during treatment. The radiation-induced oral mucositis, CD4+ T cell,
CD8+ T cell, neutrophil count/lymphocyte count (NLR), lactate
dehydrogenase (LDH), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA, and quality of life
(QOL) of these patients was compared between the adjuvant treatment
groups before, during, and 1 and 3 months after treatment.
Results: At baseline, sex, age, pathological type, stage, NLR,
LDH, EBV DNA, CD4+, CD8+, and quality of life scores did not differ
significantly between the two groups before treatment. In the treatment
group, during the same period of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, 12
patients with radiation-induced oral mucositis were mainly grade 1-2,
and only 2 patients developed grade 3. However, all 12 patients in the
control group developed grade 3-4 radiation-induced oral mucositis,
which was significantly more severe than that in the treatment group.
After 1 and 3 months of treatment, the CD4+ and CD8+ T cell counts were
significantly higher in patients in the experimental group than those in
the control group. Additionally, the experimental group also showed
larger decreases in NLR, LDH, and EBV DNA compared with the control
group. Moreover, the recovery of quality of life in the experimental
group was significantly better than in the control group
(P<0.05). Conclusion: These results demonstrated that
thymic neoadjuvant immunotherapy can improve the adverse side effects of
concurrent radiotherapy and chemotherapy and enhance immune function and
quality of life of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.