High β-1,4-Galactosyltransferase-I expression in peripheral T-lymphocytes is associated with a low risk of relapse in germ-cell cancer patients receiving high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell reinfusion

• Published in: Oncoimmunology Vol. 7; no. 5; p. e1423169
• Main Authors: Nilius, Verena, Killer, Madeleine C, Timmesfeld, Nina, Schmitt, Melina, Moll, Roland, Lorch, Anja, Beyer, Jörg, Mack, Elisabeth, Lohoff, Michael, Burchert, Andreas, Neubauer, Andreas, Brendel, Cornelia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Taylor & Francis 01.01.2018; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: b4galt1; biomarker; Brief Report; germ-cell cancer; immunosurveillance; t-lymphocytes; germ-cell cancer; T-lymphocytes; B4GALT1; biomarker; immunosurveillance
• ISSN: 2162-4011; 2162-402X; 2162-402X
• DOI: 10.1080/2162402X.2017.1423169

Survival of patients with germ-cell cancer (GCC) and primary progression or relapse after cisplatin-based first-line chemotherapy is highly heterogeneous, ranging from close to zero to more than 70%. We investigated β-1,4-Galactosyltransferase-I ( ) expression levels in peripheral lymphocytes in a cohort of 46 testicular cancer patients. enhances immune cell crosstalk via glycosylation of surface molecules. A high expression level of in T-lymphocytes, but not in monocytes, was associated with a lower risk of relapse with a hazard ratio (HR) of 0.66 (95% confidence interval (CI) of HR: 0.45-0.97; = 0.02) upon multivariate Cox regression analysis. Correspondingly, interleukin 10 (IL10), a cytokine released by cytotoxic T-cells, was likewise significantly elevated in T-lymphocytes of non-relapse GCC patients (HR: 0.3; 95% CI of HR: 0.14-0.65; = 0.002). Our data indicate that glycosylation and activation of T-lymphocytes may play a pivotal role in disease control in GCC patients with primary progressive or relapsed disease.