脑肿瘤伽玛刀放射外科治疗后 NK 细胞产生干扰素-γ 活性的初步研究

High-dose radiation is well known to induce and modulate the immune system. This study was performed to evaluate the correlation between clinical outcomes and changes in natural killer cell activity (NKA) after Gamma Knife Radiosurgery (GKS) in patients with brain cancer.

We performed an open-label, prospective, cross-sectional study of 38 patients who were treated with GKS for brain tumors, including metastatic and benign brain tumors. All of the patients underwent GKS, and blood samples were collected before and after GKS. NKA was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit, to measure interferon-gamma (IFN ) secreted by ex vivo-stimulated NK cells from whole blood. We explored the correlations between NK cell-produced IFN (NKA-IFN ) levels and clinical parameters of patients who were treated with GKS for brain tumors.

NKA-IFN levels were decreased in metastatic brain tumor patients compared to those with benign brain tumors (p<0.0001). All the patients who used steroid treatment to reduce brain swelling after GKS had an NKA-IFN level of zero except one patient. High NKA-IFN levels were not associated with a rapid decrease in brain metastasis and did not increase after GKS.

The activity of NK cells in metastatic brain tumors decreased more than that in benign brain tumors after GKS.