OBJECTIVES Fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy regimens are the current first-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC); however, the outcome is often unsatisfactory. The present study aimed to determine the effect of combined cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cell immunotherapy and first-line chemotherapy in patients with mCRC. METHODS This retrospective study included 252 patients with mCRC treated with first-line chemotherapy. Among them, 126 patients received first-line chemotherapy only (control group), while the other 126 patients, with similar demographic and clinical characteristics, received CIK cell immunotherapy combined with first-line chemotherapy (CIK group). Overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were compared between the two groups using the Kaplan-Meier method. RESULTS The median OS for the CIK group was 54.7 versus 24.1 months for the controls, and the median PFS for the CIK group was 25.7 versus 14.6 months for the controls. Univariate and multivariate analyses indicated that CIK cell treatment was an independent prognostic factor for patients' OS and PFS. Subgroup analyses showed that CIK cell treatment significantly improved the OS and PFS of patients with metastatic colon cancer, but not those with metastatic rectal cancer. Additionally, the change in CD3+CD56+ subsets after the fourth treatment cycle might be an indicator of successful CIK cell treatment: Patients with increased CD3+CD56+ subsets had better survival than those with decreased CD3+CD56+ subsets. CONCLUSION Cytokine-induced killer cell immunotherapy combined with first-line chemotherapy could significantly improve the OS and PFS of patients with mCRC, particularly for patients with metastatic colon cancer.

中文翻译：

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细胞因子诱导杀伤细胞免疫治疗联合一线化疗对转移性结直肠癌患者疗效的回顾性分析

目的 以氟嘧啶为基础的化疗方案是目前转移性结直肠癌 (mCRC) 的一线治疗；然而，结果往往不能令人满意。本研究旨在确定联合细胞因子诱导杀伤 (CIK) 细胞免疫治疗和一线化疗对 mCRC 患者的影响。方法 这项回顾性研究包括 252 名接受一线化疗治疗的 mCRC 患者。其中，126例患者仅接受一线化疗（对照组），其余126例患者人口学和临床特征相似，接受CIK细胞免疫治疗联合一线化疗（CIK组）。采用 Kaplan-Meier 法比较两组的总生存期（OS）和无进展生存期（PFS）。结果 CIK 组的中位 OS 为 54.7 个月，对照组为 24.1 个月，CIK 组的中位 PFS 为 25.7 个月，对照组为 14.6 个月。单变量和多变量分析表明，CIK 细胞治疗是患者 OS 和 PFS 的独立预后因素。亚组分析显示，CIK 细胞治疗显着改善了转移性结肠癌患者的 OS 和 PFS，但对转移性直肠癌患者无影响。此外，第四个治疗周期后 CD3+CD56+ 亚群的变化可能是 CIK 细胞治疗成功的一个指标：CD3+CD56+ 亚群增加的患者比 CD3+CD56+ 亚群减少的患者存活率更高。