Conclusions
Adjuvant CIT therapy was an effective therapeutic strategy for postoperative CRC patients prolonging OS and PFS. Patient age, tumor stage and expression of SLAMF7 may be potential indicators of the efficacy of CIT therapy.
Methods
This retrospective analysis included 137 postoperative CRC patients, including 71 who received adjuvant chemotherapy alone (control group) and 66 who received adjuvant immunotherapy based on CIK cells combined with chemotherapy (CIT group).
Results
Long-term follow-up study indicated that overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were significantly longer in the CIT group than in the control group. Subgroup analyses showed that CIT treatment significantly improved OS and PFS of CRC patients classified as stage II and N0 stage and in patients with primary tumors in the rectum. Increasing the number of CIK infusions resulted in better prognosis. CRC patients aged < 65 years were found to benefit more from CIT-based therapy than patients aged ≥ 65 years. A retrospective case-control study indicated that the primary tumor expression of signalling lymphocytes activating molecule family 7 (SLAMF7) was associated with increased efficacy of CIT treatment. Conclusions: Adjuvant CIT therapy was an effective therapeutic strategy for postoperative CRC patients prolonging OS and PFS. Patient age, tumor stage and expression of SLAMF7 may be potential indicators of the efficacy of CIT therapy.