Pires AC, Uson Junior PLS. Enhancing T-cell response with monoclonal antibodies and chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2025; 17(7): 104806 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i7.104806]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Pedro Luiz Serrano Uson Junior, MD, Assistant Professor, Center for Personalized Medicine, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Avenida Albert Einstein 627, São Paulo 05652900, Brazil. pedro.serrano@einstein.br
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Jul 15, 2025; 17(7): 104806 Published online Jul 15, 2025. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v17.i7.104806
Enhancing T-cell response with monoclonal antibodies and chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer
Ana Carolina Pires, Pedro Luiz Serrano Uson Junior
Ana Carolina Pires, Department of Oncology, Oncoclínicas, Rio de Janeiro 22250905, Brazil
Ana Carolina Pires, Hospital Universitário Gaffrée e Guinle, Rio de Janeiro 22250905, Brazil
Pedro Luiz Serrano Uson Junior, Center for Personalized Medicine, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo 05652900, Brazil
Pedro Luiz Serrano Uson Junior, Department of Oncology, Hospital do Coração (HCOR), Sao Paulo 04004030, Brazil
Author contributions: Pires AC and Uson Junior PLS wrote the article, reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict of interest associated with the senior author and other co-authors regarding their contributions to this manuscript.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Pedro Luiz Serrano Uson Junior, MD, Assistant Professor, Center for Personalized Medicine, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Avenida Albert Einstein 627, São Paulo 05652900, Brazil. pedro.serrano@einstein.br
Received: January 7, 2025 Revised: January 23, 2025 Accepted: February 10, 2025 Published online: July 15, 2025 Processing time: 193 Days and 9.9 Hours
Abstract
This article provides a critical analysis of a prospective single arm study by Zheng et al, which assessed the impact of oxaliplatin and trastuzumab, administered every 3 weeks, for a total of six cycles in 60 patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive advanced gastric cancer. The study specifically explored how this treatment regimen influenced serum tumor markers and T lymphocyte subsets. After six cycles of treatment, the levels of the tumor markers carcinoembryonic antigen, carbohydrate antigen 19-9 and carbohydrate antigen 72-4 in the blood significantly dropped compared to their initial values (P < 0.001). There was a notable increase in the percentages of CD3+ and CD4+ T cells (P < 0.05), while the percentage of CD8+ T cells decreased (P < 0.05). As a result, the CD4+/CD8+ ratio also rose significantly after treatment (P < 0.05). Patients who had a reduction of 50% or more in their tumor markers and an increase of 1.5 times or more in the CD4+/CD8+ ratio showed better clinical improvements (P < 0.05). In this editorial, we will discuss these findings and how they apply to the current treatment field for advanced HER2 positive gastric cancer.
Core Tip: After six cycles of treatment with chemotherapy and trastuzumab it was observed that the levels of tumor markers in the blood significantly dropped compared to their initial values. Furthermore, there was a notable increase in the percentages of CD3+ and CD4+ T cells, with the CD4+/CD8+ ratio also increasing after treatment. Patients who had a reduction of 50% or more in their tumor markers and an increase in the CD4+/CD8+ ratio showed better disease outcomes. These findings can be related to the current field of advancements in the treatment of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 positive gastric cancer, with the combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors.
